FEATURE
2014 MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPION MARC MARQUEZ
P110
than that in Japan, where he duffed his start,
got off the line almost last, and cut through the
rest as though he had an extra cylinder.
This was a marker. Along with a reputation
for ruthless attacking riding. Marquez the Mer-
ciless.
On paper, he had matched Rossi: a year to
learn, a year to win. But this was falsified be-
cause of the eye injury. Even so, nobody ex-
pected him to win the MotoGP title at his first
attempt.
It wasn't only the obvious: an almost instant
ability to adapt to 260 horsepower, sophisti-
cated electronics and Bridgestone tires. It was
an ability to adapt his fast-and-loose Moto2
style to the bigger class, without losing his cut-
ting edge.
In the process, he reintroduced an ele-
ment of combat to a class that had become
a bit touchy-feely over the previous years, as
the established stars played the percentages
and respected one another's personal space.
Such tactics would no longer be effective,
once Marquez had arrived.
"Moto2 is good training, especially for
the battle, because in Moto2 you are always
fighting with some riders – normally it's a big
group," Marquez said. "From this I learned a
lot.
"I also learned to take my best and always
give 100 percent, because it is so difficult to
make the difference in that class. But when I
came to MotoGP, on the electronic side, all
"HE CAN DO SO MANY LAPS,
SO MANY CORNERS ON THE
ABSOLUTE RAGGED EDGE
[THAT] IS THE THING THAT
IMPRESSES ME MOST." – NICKY HAYDEN
Marquez' 13
th
win at Valencia
broke Doohan's record of most
race wins in one season.
