Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1345660
VOLUME 58 ISSUE 9 MARCH 2, 2021 P111 back in the days of his 125-class innocence, he was never anything but a ruthless killer. Marquez the Merciless, a smiling tiger cub. In the same way Rossi has always scattered beguiling charm, winning fans way beyond his racing prowess. Like a TV reality-show star, riding the crest of a celebrity wave to draw in admirers from far and wide. Most of whom neither knowing or car- ing just what a brutal rival he was to every other racer. Rossi has never taken any prisoners. You wouldn't want it any other way. It's what it takes to be a great champion in a full-on high- risk sport like world champion- ship bike racing. Niall Mackenzie was the most successful British rider in the long 35-year gap be- tween GP wins for Barry Sheene and Cal Crutchlow. I well re- member him telling me a couple of years ago: "Looking back, I think I was just too polite to the other riders." Niall took seven podiums but zero wins. Marc's video clip came from the internet-only Repsol Honda team launch as February limped towards its Covid-stricken close. He and new teammate Pol Espargaro (his blue helmet mak- ing a jarring clash with the team orange livery) were pictured with the latest RC213Vs. The setting was gloomy–some sort of medieval dungeon: the sort of venue that Spain has done particularly well ever since the Inquisition. This perhaps reflected the fact that 2020 was the first year since 1981 in the premier class that Honda has entered, but not achieved a single race win. Marc, right shoulder slumped and forearm looking ever so slightly wasted (or was that a false impression, engender- ing some wishful thinking in his rivals?), was frank enough. He revealed that while he continues to make progress towards recov- ery after the third surgery to his broken right humerus, he did not expect to take part in the March Qatar tests. He set his target low: just "to enjoy being back on the bike. You cannot pretend to arrive with one year off the bike and still be the same Marc." So maybe there is some relief for the rest of the MotoGP grid, coming in after a year giving eight of them the chance to win races, a rarity when Marc is on form. They will have at least the first part of the season to fight among themselves. This is of particular interest to Marc's Honda colleagues, who will be under particular pressure from their employer. Pol and the satellite riders Nakagami and Alex Marquez must seize their chance to end Honda's drought. Footnote: The death on February 23 at just 60 of title- winning rider and team owner Fausto Gresini, ending a long battle with Covid-19, evokes long memories throughout the paddock. A double 125 cham- pion and winner of 21 races, the diminutive Italian continued as a highly successful team boss, eventually contesting all three classes as well as MotoE, where his team won the inaugural championship. Gresini riders also won titles in Moto3 (Jorge Martin, 2018), 250 (Daijiro Kato, 2001) and Moto2 (Toni Elias, 2010), and MotoGP races with Sete Gibernau and Marco Melandri. The team also suffered tragedy, with Kato and Marco Simoncelli both fatally injured riding in its colors. I am sure readers will indulge me, indeed join me, in offering sincere condolences for a man who, to me, was always one of racing's natural gentlemen. CN The one-time choirboy-look and innocent smile are long gone. The 2021 version looked drawn and angry: nose beaked, eyebrows dark and looming, eyes fierce.