Cycle News

FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPION MARC MARQUEZ P106 PROFILE Qatar, managed to win in round two in Argentina, where Lorenzo fell off and Rossi struggled with the hard rear tire imposed as an emergency measure for a compulsory two-part race. Then Marc, unbeaten in the USA, resumed his usual domination at Austin, with a fourth straight pole-to-flag win. A patient third at Jerez was fol- lowed by his only real mistake of the year. On a tricky damp track at Le Mans, "I was trying to do more than the bike could do." He fell off, but still managed to score points after remounting for 13th. But it was a wake-up call to, once again, focus and rein in his insa- tiable desire to overtake. He must take it easy until getting back to tracks that suited him better. "With Lorenzo getting the points-lead back we were head- ing to Mugello and Catalunya, which are not good tracks for me. I thought, 'It won't be easy!'" He managed second at both. "As it happened, those races helped us to start to believe that the title was possible." Second to Rossi at the latter race, where Lorenzo was knocked off by Iannone, returned Marc to the title lead. All the while, Honda was tak- ing steps with electronics and chassis modifications, while Marquez took profit from bad conditions at Assen with a pru- dent second to Jack Miller while Rossi crashed out and Lorenzo was nowhere. Then a tire gam- ble, switching early to slicks on a drying Sachsenring, gave him a third win. It was round nine and well below his usual average. But significantly he was the only top rider to have scored points in every round. It would be five more races before his next win, at Aragon—a track he had been waiting for. By now, Honda's work had given him "a bike I can ride as I like," while Rossi and Lorenzo had faced their own vicissitudes. For which Marquez claimed some credit. "I know that the mistakes hap- pen for a reason; when a rider is able to keep a strong pace and put pressure on the others, it increases the possibility that the others will make mistakes." As happened at Motegi, the first of three flyaway rounds. On arrival, Marquez had a lead of 52 points over Rossi, with Lorenzo close behind. But with four races left and 100 points on the table, it was too soon to count any chickens. "It will be almost impossible to win the title here," he said before the race. Then both Yamaha riders crashed out while Marquez won. He was World Champion again. Released from the bondage of his "get the points" resolution, Marquez returned to his more natural mode of expression. He admits he is always pre- pared to crash, and he did crash 17 times in 2016, putting him equal third with Yonny Hernan- dez (behind Crutchlow—26, and Miller—25). Here's the rub. He crashed in practice, "when I was looking for the limit, to be safer in the race." Only three of those crashes happened in races, and on two of them he remounted and scored points. And two of them—in Malaysia and Austra- lia—came after he'd won the Valencia, Spain, 2016. Marc is achieving serious rock-star status in his home country.

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