The internet is ablaze this morning with mostly uninformed reactions to the Marc Marquez/Jorge Lorenzo incident from last night’s Spanish Grand Prix. Now, long-term lifers, those who have followed this blog for a while, will know that I am an unashamed Marc Marquez fan. Do I believe that he is the next Valentino Rossi? No, I don’t. I believe he is the next Marc Marquez and that he may, just possibly, go on to eclipse the great Rossi’s reputation in the sport as the Greatest of All Time. So, I must own up to being a little biased when it comes to analysing his racing performances.
How did I see it? Well, MM93 had had a shot at JL99 at half race distance and nearly brought himself unstuck a couple of times in doing so. He lost touch with Lorenzo and looked as if he was going to cruise to a safe second position and shore up his points in the title race. But, to think so would have been to have reckoned without Marquez’s fighting spirit. Because, first and foremost, he is a RACER and racing is what he lives and breathes. Perhaps a little later in his career he may develop the “cruise and collect” mentality, but it’s not going to happen any time soon. As long as he thinks that he has even the vaguest chance, he will do whatever it takes to make it happen. And that is exactly what he did. Lorenzo relaxed, believing that the issue was settled and left a big gap on the racing line in the last corner and Marquez went for it. He waited till he was alongside before easing off the brake and carting Lorenzo even wider, then he squeezed the rest of the way by and made the dash to the flag, securing second place and relegating a very disgruntled Lorenzo to the last step on the podium.
As the TV commentators pointed out at the time, it was a pity that it happened because it distracted the attention away from a brilliant Dani Pedrosa victory on a track that is known to be a Yamaha favourite. He won by over 2 seconds, an eternity in racing terms and, incidentally, also fired a barrage across the bows of Kevin Schwantz who had earlier in the week, questioned his credentials. The best way to prove you’re right is with your actions.
Of course, to most of us this incident bore remarkable similarity to the Rossi/Gibernau one at the same corner back in 2005.
I find it highly amusing that the pundits are more than happy to declare this a “racing incident” for no other reason than the fact that it is considered anathema to call Rossi into question, but they are happy to pillory Marquez for doing the same thing. I would remind these “experts” that Rossi crashed Gibernau out of the race altogether in 2005, Lorenzo was able to gather up and finish last night.
To all those who would see that there is a difference here let me ask a couple of questions. Did Yamaha enter a protest? Was MM93 called up before the stewards of the meeting? Did Race Direction issue a penalty or a warning? The answer to all these questions is no. I further ask. Since DORNA has introduced, with much fanfare and carry-on, a penalty system that will be applied to over-aggressive riders from the start of 2013, were points levied against Marquez for the incident last night? Again, the answer is no.
But, don’t take my word for it. Apart from Lorenzo, who refused to speak to the media about the incident afterwards, many other experts did. Here’s what they had to say.
Reaction to the last-corner incident at Jerez.
Do you detect a theme here, because I certainly do. If I was Lorenzo this morning, I’d still be mad. But Id be mad at MYSELF for playing right into Marquez’s hands. This one’s going to run for a while yet, but it’s already over and those of us who are sensible and love the sport will move on, as everyone must do in the end. It was a racing incident and JL99 will be more careful about closing the pole line in future. Nothing to see here, folks, move along.
I took the Shadowfax to the excellent bike show at the Berry Bowling Club yesterday. It’s always held the first weekend in May and is a “must see” on the calendar if you’re in the area. I’ll publish the link to my Facebook album and you can peruse the quality and quantity.
I had a long conversation with Kent Miklenda this morning. He’s been O/S working again for the last few months and is shortly heading back to Scandinavia on a more permanent basis. Before he goes he’s going to ferret out any more archival stuff that he has about the bike and forward it to me. One thing that he has already found is a video tape of the ABC broadcast of the Coca Cola 800 that includes some footage of the Shadowfax, can’t wait to see that. And he was totally in agreement with my plan to put the bike into the NMMoA as well so I am extremely gratified at that.
Shoalhaven Classic Bike Club display 5-5-13
Catch you next time.
