‘Marquez bounces back like a superhuman’
Mega smash on Friday, title on Sunday. Marquez is a phenomenon
It’s hard to put into words what Marquez is doing in MotoGP right now – he is super, super human. To have a crash as big as he did in FP1, crash again in qualifying and still bounce back is something else. It seems like if he gets a kick in the shins, it somehow just makes him stronger. Whenever I’ve crashed and hurt myself, it always takes me a while to get up, but it takes Marquez about 0.3s to be back where he needs to be. It’s like he thrives on it. He thrives on pushing things over the edge and as a result the limits he’s finding are beyond anyone else’s reach. Then he just comes back half a degree and it’s enough to win. The question is, how is anyone going to beat him, because if you look around, most of his rivals are beaten before they start. When I was at Goodwood I was chatting to Dani Pedrosa and I asked him about Marquez, he just said he’s on a different level. I think the Brits like to put the boot into someone that is doing so well all the time, but Marquez is such a likeable, happy character even if he doesn’t have the same following as Rossi. He’s making it look easy, but I don’t really think any of us understand how much work and effort he is putting into it.
You can see he’s enjoying it, he’s in a happy place with his team and the little PR gigs he does, whereas if you look at Viñales – he looks like he should be on suicide watch. It looks like a job to him and one where he knows he’s got no chance. Right now Marquez is making it look simple, he’s arguably on the best bike and he is absolutely the best rider. He’s just 26 years old and has eight world championships to his name. Where’s it all going to end?
‘THE LIMITSHE’S FINDING ARE BEYOND ANYONE ELSE’S REACH’