FEATURE
2014 MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPION MARC MARQUEZ
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these things were completely differ-
ent. About that in Moto2 there is zero;
you can learn nothing. When I came
to MotoGP, this was big, but step by
step I learned."
Marquez's step by step is anybody
else's stride by stride. He was third in
his first race, defeated veteran team-
mate Pedrosa to win the second in
Austin, and went on to win six more,
on the rostrum everywhere except
Mugello, where he crashed. The title
battle went to the final round, but only
because he was disqualified because
his pit made an error in an extraordi-
nary two-leg Australian Grand Prix
with a compulsory bike-change pit
stop.
He was the youngest-ever cham-
pion. And now, to the discomfort of
his older rivals, he had a year of ex-
perience.
He had something else: the full
confidence of the Honda Racing Cor-
poration.
This was manifested in two impor-
tant ways.
Firstly, his wish to bring his trusted
Moto2 pit crew into the factory pit
was granted.
Secondly, the chassis designers
built a bike for his express wants. He
explained how he prefers the bike
to be a bit unstable, making it easier
to find the limits, and when you get
there not only to avoid crashing, but
still be able to make the corner. His
Moto2 style, and exactly the aspect
of his riding that makes him so spec-
tacular to watch.
Time and again in 2014 he would
appear to have crashed, and then
recover. Never more astonishingly
than at Brno post-race tests, where
a remarkable series of pictures show
Marquez fully on the ground, but his
tires still just touching the road. Twist-
ing the throttle and using his body
weight, Marc saves the crash, as the
back wheel lifts the sliding front off
the ground. Quite extraordinary.
Those old enough to recall the pre-
vious youngest-ever champion Fred-
die Spencer saw similar feats: Fred-
die could crash without falling off. It
makes a rider devastating.
At year's end, Marc explained to
"I HAVE TO LEARN FROM HIM,
THE CAPABILITY TO WIN IN ALL
THE SITUATION. NOT JUST EVERY
TRACK, BUT ALSO FLAG-TO-FLAG,
HALF WET OR A NORMAL RACE.
THIS IS THE MOST IMPRESSIVE
THING HE DO THIS YEAR." – VALENTINO ROSSI
(Right) Marquez brought
Moto2 crew chief Santi Hernandez
with him to MotoGP.
(Far right) Another record broken
– Alex and Marc became the
brothers to be World Champions
in the same year.
