VOL. 53 ISSUE 50 DECEMBER 20, 2016 P101
THE
FASTEST
RIDER
ON
EARTH
T
he Marquez
Phenomenon
didn't just regain
lost momentum in
2016. It took a clear
step forward. The
rider who won his third
premier-class world
championship title with
three races to spare
did so in a new way,
with a very different
mental approach. And
more than somewhat
against the odds.
This was a new
version of the rider
who, in 2013, told me
that his main weakness
was that whenever he
saw a motorcycle in
front of him, he was
unable to resist trying
to overtake it. The
new mature Marquez
(still only 23) had
learned that sometimes
you had to accept
being beaten if you
wanted to accumulate
championship points.
HE'S ONLY 23
YEARS OLD AND A
FIVE-TIME WORLD
CHAMPION. LET THAT
SINK IN FOR A BIT.
WE TAKE A LOOK
BACK AT MARQUEZ'
CHAMPIONSHIP-
WINNING YEAR.
BY MICHAEL SCOTT
PHOTOGRAPHY BY GOLD & GOOSE
