VOL. 51 ISSUE 50 DECEMBER 16, 2014 P115
British journalist Matt Birt how he
had, with some difficulty, persuaded
HRC to shift design philosophy.
"I told them I wanted them not to
have a perfect and precise bike,"
Marquez explained. "Last year in
the braking point, if I had some
movement I crashed or went wide.
I asked for a bike that if I have some
movement I can still enter the cor-
ner. If you have a bike that's very stiff
and very stable, it is difficult to find
the limit."
This explains a lot about his tech-
nique and about how he uses the
first practice taking huge risks, look-
ing for the limit. The added strength
that meant he won the first ten races
before a hiccup at round eleven at
Brno put him fourth. It was the first
time he'd finished a MotoGP race
and not stood on the rostrum.
He won the next weekend, how-
ever. And now he started to get hu-
man. With the title all but guaran-
teed, he started taking bigger risks,
wanting to seal the deal as early
as possible, preferably at round 14
at home in Aragon. At Misano he
fell battling with Rossi in the early
stages, remounting to finish a first-
ever 15th. At Aragon he was miles in
the lead and took a gamble that his
slick tires would get to the end of an
increasingly wet race. They didn't;
again he remounted to save three
points.
It meant he had to wait until the
next race for his massive points lead
to become unassailable. He tied up
the title at Honda's home circuit of
Motegi.
Pressure lifted, there followed an-
other crash while miles in the lead
in Australia, one of several victims of
the cold conditions. Then an elev-
enth and finally record 12th win at
Valencia. That same weekend, a
perfect year was sealed when his
younger brother Alex tied up the
Moto3 crown, the first time two
brothers had done so, let alone in
the same year.
"It may have looked different from
the outside, but this year was not
easy," Marquez said. "I smiled and
laughed a lot, but the pressure was
there all year, from my rivals and my-
self.
"I made some mistakes, maybe
because of too much confidence.
My early victories gave me the luxury
of taking a few more risks than usual.
After that, I really had to focus on the
championship. Then in the last three
races, I could have some fun."
Marc turns 22 next year. By Ros-
si's standards, that means he has
got 15 years more racing ahead
of him. Can he be beaten? That is
what will make the coming years
fascinating. We can hardly wait to
find out. CN
"THE WAY HE IS RIDING
ALWAYS AT 99 PERCENT
OF THE LIMIT AND HAVE
BIG MOMENTS, BUT
NEVER CRASH. IT'S REALLY
IMPRESSIVE HOW HE
CAN MANAGE THE BIG
MOMENTS." - ALEIX ESPARGARO
Marquez has
been top of his
class two years
running. Can
any of these
guys dethrone
him in 2015?
