VOLUME 58 ISSUE 12 MARCH 23, 2021 P87
THE
CALM
BEFORE
THE
STORM
MOTOGP 2021 IS JUST AROUND
THE CORNER–NEW FACES,
COLORS, NUMBERS AND A
GREAT CHAMPION MAKING A
VERY LONG ANTICIPATED
RETURN. IT'S GOING TO BE
A GOOD ONE.
BY NEIL MORRISON
PHOTOGRAPHY BY GOLD & GOOSE
F
our months on from 2020's thrill-
ing conclusion, one is tempted
to ask: where do we go from
here? Last year MotoGP was as wild
and unpredictable as it's ever been:
nine winners across 14 races, four
manufacturers taking at least two wins
apiece and Honda wasn't among them.
Oh, and one of the more unexpected
victors in any season across Grand
Prix's 72-year history.
Well, the shortest winter of pre-
season testing has hinted it won't end
there. Just five days of testing were
on offer (six to rookies) to the class of
2021, all of them at one track. The final
evening was rendered useless as a
sandstorm engulfed the vast, feature-
less plains of Qatar, meaning certain
testing programs—Suzuki and KTM's in
particular—were far from complete.
It left just over a tenth covering the
top four, and five manufacturers in the
top 10. Analysis of longer runs sug-
gested as many as 10 names could be
counted in the running for the podium.
And that's before we even contem-
plate the joker of this season who was
missing from last week's running: Marc
Marquez. Yes, it's fair to say this season
is shaping up very nicely indeed.
Only the possibility of a returning
Marquez threatens to upset MotoGP's
recent penchant for throwing up the
unexpected. Yes, he hasn't climbed
aboard his Honda RC213V in over eight
months. But the serial champion has
cast a shadow over his competitors with
a flurry of recent social media posts,
showing rapid recent progress in his
rehabilitation from the double fracture of
his upper right arm. Knowing his ability
to withstand pain and shred months off
