Cycle News

VOL. 53 ISSUE 32 AUGUST 16, 2016 P125 ishing Rossi, his ice axe sharp as ever, and dug in to retain a foothold even as it crumbles beneath him. But it's impossible not to think that the inevitable has already started to happen, especially after two uncharacter- istic errors at the last two races. It will take a miracle (or a disaster for Marquez) for him to revive the title challenge that was still so strong only a year ago. Lorenzo might yet recover lost momentum, but it also looks too late for this season, with a deficit of almost 50 points and his usual composure severely discombob- ulated. He is also looking for that same miracle/catastrophe. And Pedrosa, sadly (for he has so often deserved better in his big-bikes career), is really not to be taken seriously, for all sorts of reasons. Mainly technical. He's too light to get the new Michelins to work properly, and this year's badly balanced Honda with its unfamiliar Magneti Marelli elec- tronics doesn't help him. Hang on. Doesn't Marquez ride the same bike? And surely he too, while not as titchy as wee Dani, is hardly a giant (of- ficial weights and heights: 112 pounds/5'3" for Dani and 130 pounds/5'6" for Marquez). Well, quite so. Therefore, there is something else differ- ent about them, apart from 17 pounds and three inches. It lies in the ability to overcome weak- nesses in the machine, and continue to express yourself as a rider. This is only one proof of how much Marquez had developed in his fourth season as a MotoGP rider. Another is a string of three second-places before his win at the last pre-holiday round in Germany. That was only his third win in nine races. A big change for a rider for whom win-or-bust was for many years the only lan- guage he knew. In 125s he took 10 wins, and never once finished second. In Moto2 the ratio was 16:6; in MotoGP at the end of last year it was 24:11. He has clearly expanded his vocabulary in the intervening years, and personally I think Rossi's late-season attack last year (remember the old guy forc- ing him off the track in Malaysia?) was a major contributory factor. All this would seem to indicate that we might be in for another of those long spells when one rider dominates. Like Rossi, and Doohan before him. The latter was almost resentful of a situa- tion (a talent gap, really) that left him head and shoulders above his rivals. He famously admitted once that racing was pretty bor- ing really; although when tasked with the implications of this statement a bit later he issued another of his many memorable quotes: "What do you want me to do about it, slow down?" One factor might make it a bit harder for Marquez to take complete control: Dorna's much derided but admittedly rather successful dumbing down of the machinery, all aimed at making the racing closer. There are other factors, which have two legs. One is Maverick Vinales, whose talent has shone out ever since he started in 125s, and who will be on a Yamaha next year. Another might (let's hope) be Jack Miller, whose jump straight from Moto3 to MotoGP put him on a daunt- ingly steep learning curve and saw him slip and slide a bit. But Jack does have one thing so far denied to Vinales—a grand prix win. There's the rest of the year to get over with first. If I were a bet- ting man, if I had any money, and if the odds weren't so discourag- ing, I'd put the farm on Marquez to take the title. Back in the old days, I nick- named him Marquez the Merci- less. Now he needs a new one. Marquez the Remarquable. CN

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