THE FIGHT

We all love to watch a good duff-up on the racetrack, but what about the riders? We asked Marc, Valentino, Jorge, Cal, and the rest what the racing battle means to them

MODERN MOTOGP IS ALL ABOUT THE FIGHT because the racing is closer than ever and it’s harder than ever to overtake. Back in the 1960s and 1970s, Grand Prix races were often won by several minutes, which can’t have been much fun for the fans (although they still turned up in their hundreds of thousands at some tracks). In recent years new technical regulations have created a grid of very similar motorcycles, with the express purpose of having riders fight each other all the way to the chequered flag. This makes great entertainment for fans, although its primary purpose is to increase Dorna’s profits by getting more people watching television and coming to races.

Elbow-to-elbow racing works for those MotoGP riders who love to battle with their rivals and not so well for others who prefer the thrill of an open road before them. But who is who?

“A good battle is very special, because if you race alone for 25 laps it feels very, very long, but if you battle all through the race, it feels like 10 laps.

“For me the battle is the nicest thing because when your opponents are close, you can follow them and try to understand some different lines; then in the last laps the adrenaline comes! You always learn something because you are trying to beat your opponent, so you push a little more and you can improve your riding. When you are alone, you ride at your limit and that’s it. You need to ride like that in free practice, so you can understand the bike and work on setup, but I’m always waiting for the race.

“For me, the best overtakes happen on the last lap: tight but no contact! The big thing you need to understand is that if you overtake aggressively then the others can overtake you aggressively too. I do overtake like that, so I expect the others to do the same to me. You cannot complain. If, for example, we think about Valentino’s overtake on Jorge at Misano, it was on the limit, but this is racing.

“The bikes are now very close in performance and this year it was even more difficult to make the difference because the limit of the Michelin front was very, very tight. Moreover, the wings didn’t help because when you were behind somebody, the rider in front had more aero effect, so he got more downforce, which gave him less wheelie and more acceleration, so it was more difficult to stay with him on the straight.

“Late braking has always been my style, from my days in 125s. When I arrived in MotoGP I was more or less fast, but to make the last step I always compared my data with Dani’s and he was really strong on the brakes. Also, it’s the character of the Honda to make the lap-time on the brakes. This year with the Michelins, all the different bikes enter the corners in a more similar way, but the Honda still asks me to brake late, because if I don’t, the lap-times never come.

“Winning a race at the last corner is an amazing feeling, but also when I won Aragon by 2.7 seconds the feeling was about the same because that race was really important for the championship. Maybe, it was a bit boring but after practice I expected it to be even more boring because my rhythm was really good and my target was to lead the race and open the gap, but then I made a mistake and lost many places, so I had to make a lot of overtakes.

“I’ve made a lot of good overtakes and at Aragon I passed everyone in the same place, which always feels very nice. I made my overtakes at the chicane, because this is a strong point with the Honda and my riding style.

“I think the best overtakes on me were when I first arrived in the world championship. I would be riding full speed in a corner and someone would come around the outside, going much faster. Wow! Also, Jorge did a good job on me at the last corner at Silverstone in 2013.”