CN
III IN THE PADDOCK
P134
BY MICHAEL SCOTT
M
arc Marquez and Valen-
tino Rossi between them
don't leave much room
for any other riders to get any
attention.
Every fortnight, when I'd re-
ally like to change the subject,
something else outrageous has
happened. And it's back to Mar-
quez and Rossi.
You could ask Jorge Lorenzo
about this. Won four Grands Prix
on the trot and moved to within
a point of surprise title leader
Rossi. Even then, he wasn't the
main story. Perfect rider though
he may be, Lorenzo just doesn't
command the attention and
respect he deserves.
And so it was at Assen, as the
two leading figures again seized
center stage on the track as
well as off it (in every possible
sense), in a race with a climax
that will go down in history, with
a video clip of pure gold.
A brief replay, in case you're
not watching it already. Race-
long dice, Rossi leads, Marquez
waits, then passes… but can't
get away. Rossi leads again,
with two laps left. All perfectly
polite so far. High-class racing,
at its best, at a track that is still
special, in spite of having been
emasculated 10 years ago.
Last lap, Rossi has a slender
lead. Though at the last section,
Marquez gobbles it up, to arrive
at the final right-left-right Timmer-
bocht chicane in position to dive
inside Rossi at the apex. He's
not actually ahead when he gets
there, and both wheels are sliding.
But for him the outcome is clear.
He will bash into Rossi at the
first apex, forcing him either to
lift or possibly to crash. And win
SOUR GRAPES
