electronics and control tires—
some differences that should
seem to have been ironed out
have instead magnified.
Take the recent Austrian
GP. The difference between
Marquez's winning Ducati and
third-placed Bezzecchi's Aprilia
was less than 3.5 seconds after
28 laps and 75.6 miles, just over
a tenth of a second per lap. (I
choose the third finisher for rea
-
sons that will become clear.)
Yet, the
best Yamaha, in a
woeful weekend for the formerly
sporadically dominant Japanese
factory, was that of Fabio Quar
-
tararo, who was 15th and fourth
from
last (three other Yamahas
behind him), a massive 25.25
M
otorcycle racing has
always been a technical
sport. That's obvious
and indivisible. But the ma-
chinery isn't everything. A good
rider
can potentially get more
out of an average bike than the
other way round—an average
rider on a good bike.
Talent will win out. That's
why it's a genuine sport, rather
than just a mechanical tug-of-
war. As Marc Marquez contin
-
ues to demonstrate.
These
things seem obvious.
Yet as technology has advanced,
hand in hand with rules that
seek to equalize that technology
by manifold restrictions—fixed
cylinder size and numbers, spec
P156
CN II IN THE PADDOCK
BY MICHAEL SCOTT
The latest GP25 is not
as good a motorcycle as
the GP24 it replaced.
DUCATI'S
BACKWARD
STEP
