VOLUME 58 ISSUE 3 JANUARY 19, 2021 P107
Dorna (amongst others) to take a
financial body blow. The original
worldwide 20-round premier-
class calendar shrank back to
14, all in Europe, but there was
a worthwhile championship
ultimately lacking only in one as-
pect—spectators. The TV show
made up for it.
MotoGP was not the only
motorsport to show resilience
and adaptability in 2020, but it
was a leader, and there should
be enough remaining buoyancy
to keep the boat afloat for at
least the first half of the year. So
there remains the prospect of a
resumption of the close racing
and championship of last year.
Shortened season notwith-
standing, 2020 equaled a re-
cord nine different race winners,
the title in the balance until the
penultimate race.
Can the coming season be as
close?
Probably. The answer de-
pends largely on Marc Marquez.
There's no doubt the Repsol
Honda rider's absence last year
enlivened the prospects of every
other rider and contributed to a
feast of close racing.
But there are doubts for this
year, triggered by the length of
his absence and fueled by an
absence of clear information
through a series of mumbled
postponements. It was only after
the final race that the extent
of his medical problems was
revealed—a third surgery (an
eight-hour marathon with a third
titanium plate and a bone graft)
to try to get his snapped right
humerus to unite.
The notorious non-union hu-
merus fracture is a troublesome
injury, and while one expected
the level of medical intervention
available to Marc to yield better
results, not so far. Six weeks after
that third surgery he was still tak-
ing antibiotics to control the infec-
tion that has caused the delay.
Qatar's opener is scheduled
for four months after his third
surgery. He may be close to full
strength by then, but after miss-
ing a full season, he will surely
be race-rusty.
He faces a fully refreshed
gang of younger riders. At 28
for the first race, Marc is hardly
ancient. Rossi, after all, will
be 42. But only five others are
older than Honda's prospective
returnee, and none by much.
By contrast, new champion
Joan Mir will be but 23 and a
well-rounded package on his Su-
zuki; and last year's failed favor-
ite Fabio Quartararo just 21. The
Frenchman made mistakes in
2020, but still won three races,
equaling his Yamaha satellite
teammate Franco Morbidelli, and
exceeded by nobody.
Morbidelli (26) is among the
older challengers for 2021, the
same age as Yamaha's Maverick
Vinales, KTM's two-race winner
Miguel Oliveira and new Ducati
team leader Jack Miller. Alex Rins
(Suzuki) will be 25, rising Italian
Ducati rider Pecco Bagnaia 24.
Age is only incidental, in the
end. Talent and determination
are what count. And having a
motorcycle with a wide enough
range of expression to allow you
to exploit them. Though with de-
velopment frozen since the start
of last season, there won't be
too much change there. Which
is good, for some of them.
Spectators or not, truncated
calendar or not, the prospects
for 2021 are alluring. CN
MotoGP was
not the only
motorsport to
show resilience
and adaptability
in 2020, but it
was a leader,
and there should
be enough
remaining
buoyancy to
keep the boat
afloat for at least
the first half of
the year.
