FEATURE
P92
THE MARQUEZ PHENOMENON
Marc Marquez is the talk of the 2013 MotoGP World Championship.
It's got a lot worse. "When he
moved to Moto2 that was kind
of serious, but then MotoGP...
it made me pause. Those things
are really fast.
"Watching Marc now, it's
sweet but it's also bitter. It is not
fear so much as respect for the
speeds. And you never want to
see anybody get hurt."
And it's double, with second
son Alex in Moto3.
Though easier in one way.
When Alex was still in the Spanish Championship there were
more races to attend. At least the
brothers are in the same place.
Either Juliá or Marc's mother
Roser is at every round.
"When I was working I couldn't
travel outside Europe, but after
the incidents in Australia and
Malaysia in 2011 [a big collision
at Phillip Island where Marc was
sanctioned by a back-of-the-grid
start, then a crash at Sepang that
left him with double vision and
cost him a first Moto2 crown] my
wife and I decided that one of
us must always be there. She is
working, so far this year it has always been me."
Juliá stays quietly in the background, and has always left it
to the professionals to do the
coaching. The antithesis of Motocross Dad.
"When Marc first rode, I told
him: 'This is your toy. Play with it.'
When I see parents pushing or
shouting at their kids at a racetrack, I tell them: 'You get on. You
ride the bike. Your kid's not going
to make it because of what you're
doing to him.' It happens a lot
that kids who are pushed in racing, by the time they are 15 they
don't want anything to do with it
anymore."
What advice does he give to
Marc and Alex? "I give the advice
a father gives his sons – to behave like educated people, to be
pleasant, congenial; but not anything on the racetrack. About the
only thing I can say is: 'Be careful. It might rain.' "
