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/1512679
VOLUME ISSUE DECEMBER , P121 anyway. And came third (Bez- zecchi) and fifth (Zarco) as well, with only pesky South African Brad Binder on the equally pesky KTM pushing himself into fourth. It was a Ducati year. KTM hadn't improved quite enough; last year's challenging Aprilias faltered somewhat. And Japan Inc, in the form of Honda and Yamaha, floundered embarrass - ingly. It sets the scene for 2024. But with one massive spoiler. Even the best of the Ducati incumbents might be having sleepless nights this winter. For next year the best rider of the past decade will also be on a Desmosedici. Marc Marquez's farewell to Honda at Valencia was a fit - tingly spectacular last dance for a legend. Not Sunday's looping terminal crash, Marc's unenvi - able and record-setting 29th this year, but Saturday's sprint podium—his 102nd on a Honda, achieved the only way he knew how: bucking the odds. "You know me," he smiled dangerously after proving an uncompetitive bike on a narrow, one-line track to be no draw - back. Marc barged through from ninth on the grid to third by the end of the first lap. The "thank-you and goodbye" to Honda closed off 11 remark- able years. Six championships in the first seven, and then four years when the wheels gradu - ally came off. It was the bike that failed him. His fateful 2020 crash came while trying, as usual, to exceed the possible. His worse mistake, in his own words, was coming back a week after his broken arm had been plated. This effectively undid the fresh repair. Only late last year, after four operations, was it finally and properly mended and all lined up straight. Marc must shoulder some of the blame for the RC213V losing its way. Instead of being able to improve it, his genius masked its problems. That final crash in his last race for the Repsol team drew down the curtain. Two days later, it opened again on an alto - gether new scenario. Dressed in diabolically black leathers with strikingly demonic red accents, Marc made his first acquaintance with the Des - mosedici GP23, which had just won the championship. Was he cautious? Did he take time to get familiar with an all-new bike, like any sensible person would? Like hell he did. On his first outing, his first seven laps, he was already up to third-fastest. Returning to his new pit crew in the Gresini-Ducati pit, he took off his helmet and gave another wicked grin. Of course, he went out again and went faster still—at one point, topping the sheets. By the end of the day, he'd been put down to fourth by the last GP's pole-sitter, Vinales's Aprilia, Binder again and Bezzecchi, who claimed top Ducati honors by less than a 10th of a second. New champion Bagnaia was half a second slower. But Bezzecchi has had two years to get used to the Des - mosedici's little secrets. Marc just 49 laps and a few hours. It laid down a very clear marker. Marc explained his reason for leaving his Honda comfort zone as wanting to rediscover the fun and the pleasure of racing rather than thinking of results. Fair enough, but his rivals need to understand what that really means. To Marc, the pleasure of rac - ing might not be the results. It is the beating of every other rider. The results then follow as a natural matter of course. Should there be any lingering doubts, another factor demon- strates his deadly intent, after the test it was straight back to the operating theater for surgery to address potential arm-pump problems. He means to be ready to win in both body and mind. It was only testing, of course. And Marc is just one of a crowd of Desmo riders. The rest of them. Bagnaia and Martin included, should be feeling very uneasy. The title winners between 2020 and 2023 were just enjoying a break, an interregnum. Marc's coming back. And he didn't leave Honda for a holiday. CN