VOLUME ISSUE APRIL , P125
way. But that really isn't enough
by itself to explain his prowess.
Marc won in MotoGP's last
and first visit to Laguna Seca in
2013, five times at Indianapolis,
and was unbeaten in Moto2 and
MotoGP between 2011 and the
final Brickyard outing in 2015.
By then he'd already taken
control in Texas. He was the
first winner there in 2013 and
repeated it through 2018, start
-
ing from pole every time. He
was leading by miles in 2019,
from pole again, when his
Honda electronics threw a fit
and tossed him off at the end of
the long straight. It was an early
warning of the bike's increas
-
ingly uncertain temper.
There was no race in 2020,
and Marc was, in any case, out
of action with his broken arm.
But he was back in 2021 and
won again. Only in 2022 (he
missed '23 injured) was it differ
-
ent. His growing struggle with
the bike and with his squiffy arm
saw him qualify ninth; then he
was left on the line with another
electronic glitch. A mechanic
had damaged an electronic
sensor in an unfamiliar position
on a changed swingarm. He
was last away, finished lap one
18th, then battled back to sixth,
sandwiched between Bagnaia
and Quartararo, even though the
bike wasn't quite right all race
long.
However, this invincibility is
not necessarily unbreakable,
and Marc is in an interesting
position. In a satellite team, on
a supposedly inferior bike, he
is still working on adapting his
style to the differing demands of
Ducati. No easy task, as he has
pointed out. Athletes approach
-
ing the end of their career, he ex-
plained, rely on muscle memory
to compensate for an inevitable
loss of vigor but he is having to
readjust all the reflexes pol
-
ished on the Honda, on a bike
that requires a quite different
technique.
This at a time when a tsunami
leads the much-feared tide of
youth. Pedro Acosta, still just a
teenager (he turns 20 on May
25), is so far making a sensa
-
tionally fine fist of not just rival-
ing Marc's own title-winning first
MotoGP season but threatening
to beat him for a second time
this year. Despite less previous
GP experience.
It makes this Americas GP a
hugely important race for the
former king, who has made a
sporting but not yet devastating
start to his post-Honda come
-
back. If he is going to reassert
his dominance, this is the time
to do it. Especially because of a
perceived machine advantage
of sorts. He has last year's
Ducati, and to say it is fully de
-
veloped understates the case. It
is certainly free from the chatter
problems troubling Bagnaia and
Co. on the 2024 bikes.
And Acosta, second-race
podium notwithstanding, is still
a beginner, his KTM/GasGas
not quite the equal of last year's
Ducati.
Or is it? Or will Alex Rins,
who beat Rossi here in 2019
and won last year, give Yamaha
something to celebrate? Or even
2022 winner Bastianini?
The significance of this third
race of a so-far fascinating sea
-
son goes beyond the normal.
Will Marc make his mark, or
will this be the beginning of the
always-inevitable end?
Can hardly wait to find out.
CN
IT MAKES
THIS
AMERICAS
GP A HUGELY
IMPORTANT
RACE FOR
THE FORMER
KING, WHO
HAS MADE
A SPORTING
BUT NOT YET
DEVASTATING
START TO HIS
POST-HONDA
COMEBACK.
