P122
CN II IN THE PADDOCK
BY MICHAEL SCOTT
Marc Marquez has
officially decided it's
time to move on. Can
Marquez win another
title on something
other than a Honda?
Only time will tell.
MARQUEZ'S BIG MOVE,
AND WHAT IT MEANS
Will the Spanish intrusion into
an almost all-Italian and almost
all Rossi-protégé group sow dis-
sension in the ranks?
Time will, of
course, tell,
but the smart money is on the
second likelihood. Anyone who
has studied and appreciated
Marquez's progress over the
past decade can only be in awe.
His run of championships from
2013 to 2019, missing only one
year, is evidence enough of his
riding prowess. The determi-
nation has shown even more
strongly
in the bad years since
coming back prematurely from
his broken arm in 2020, and
in his willingness to risk fur-
ther injury in trying to make an
increasingly clumsy
Honda RCV
achieve the impossible.
The second concerns Honda,
the winningest marque in Grand
Prix history. What the hell will
they do now? Who will they find
to fill the boots of the man who
won even more titles for them
than Mick Doohan?
It's a tough question that will
M
arc Marquez jumping
ship from Honda to
Ducati is the biggest rid-
er news since Valentino Rossi's
multiple bed-hopping.
It raises
at least two burning questions.
The first concerns the effect
on the status quo. By joining the
largest gang on the grid, is Marc
risking becoming just another
fast Ducati rider? Or is the aging
multi-champion's formidable
combination of talent and will-
power still strong enough to turn
them into
also-rans?
