P126
CN
III IN THE PADDOCK
BY MICHAEL SCOTT
H
onda and Yamaha are
MotoGP royalty, Suzuki
somewhat the junior
Japanese, Ducati and the rest
late-comers.
The two, Honda and Yamaha,
have something else in common.
Each has built a MotoGP bike so
particular that only one man can
get the best out of them.
Both Suzuki riders have
won on the same bike, KTM
has brought silverware to both
Oliveira and Binder, Ducati riders
are neck and neck. (Aprilia is
still a matter of wait-and-see.) It's
different for the top two.
This has been the case for
Honda for some time. Marc
Marquez was pretty much
unbeatable on a bike that
other riders found extremely
treacherous to the extent that it
prematurely ended the career
of redoubtable triple-champion
Jorge Lorenzo.
Jorge had proved himself man
enough to tame the fearsome
Desmosedici Ducati, a task that
took more than a full year. In
the process, however, he'd left
his Italian employers not just
heavily out of pocket (a record
sign-on fee), but also massively
disillusioned at having to wait
so long. His success came just
too late, but when Dani Pedrosa
decided to retire at the end of
2018, the Repsol Honda looked
like a perfect fit.
Instead came another year of
pain and struggles, so bad that
by the end of it he unexpectedly
retired mid-term on his contract.
Marc was ruled out at the first
race of 2020, and his absence
kicked off the first year in four
solid decades that Honda did
not win a single race. The riders
left behind faced a difficult time.
Cal Crutchlow suffered arm
pump issues as he wrestled with
ONE-MAN
Bikes
Marc Marquez
was pretty much
unbeatable
on a bike that
other riders
found extremely
treacherous to
the extent that
it prematurely
ended the career of
redoubtable triple-
champion Jorge
Lorenzo.
