MotoGP: A Championship For The Ages!
So, how about that MotoGP finale? For those of you that missed it, here’s a little recap.
Going in to the event Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso had stunned the entire paddock taking six wins on the season and put him within a race wins worth of points of clinching his first ever MotoGP title. Roll back a few weeks and we saw the Ducati’s biggest flaw, mid-corner speed. Phillip Island was the ultimate test and the Ducati really faltered. Unable to take the sweeping corners of the majestic Australian track it left ‘Dovi’ in a lonely 13th place desperately needing points. What followed was sensational. Malaysia, a week later, Dovi takes an exquisite win beating his championship contender Marc Marquez in the pouring rain. Incredible, he’s back in the hunt.
We roll in to Valencia with Marc Marquez also on six wins but a better return on podium results meaning he has a nineteen-point advantage and needing just a top eleven finish to be crowned world champion in the top class for a fourth time…. At 24 years of age. Not even a certain Mr V Rossi did that.
Race starts with a very solid start from the Repsol Honda rider with the ever impressive, rookie, Johann Zarco tucking in behind riding on his back wheel. Zarco has demonstrated phenomenal talent on a satellite bike this year and is destined for greatness in the future. Zarco’s eagerness to capture that elusive first win he has been chasing all year takes him past both Repsol Honda’s and to the lead of the race where he set to sit for the next twenty laps of the race.
Behind the podium runners we have the curious case of Ducati. Jorge Lorenzo maiden year with the Bologna factory has been unspectacular even if there have been glimpses of his Yamaha form at certain events. Lorenzo sat in front of Dovi for many, many laps leaving commentator and fan questioning what was at play with the Desmosedici management. ‘Fuel Mapping 8’ was a suggested option for Lorenzo, which we have learnt means drop behind. It was then made clearer to him when a big arrow pointing backwards was “suggested” on his pit board. Debate is strife at this point. Are Ducati doing the right thing? Is Lorenzo ignoring the team?
The laps winding down it was time for Marquez to do what Marquez does best. Pull the pin. As he slips down the inside of Turn 13 he secures first place from Johann Zarco. A full head of steam ensues in to turn one, Marquez fearful of Zarco snapping straight back at him. He brakes as late as humanly possible and this happens:
I have seen Marquez do this sort of thing all season. But I have never witnessed a more physics defying moment as this. How on earth has the front totally gone on him, his elbow down, his knee down, the championship flashing before his eyes…. He picks it up! WHAT?! HOW?! What wizardry and witchcraft is at play here? An utterly stunning piece of riding means he picks the bike up, runs through the gravel and back on to the circuit but now down in fifth place. There are no words to describe that moment, it defied all logic.
Suddenly, after what had felt like a sedate race to this point, exploded in to chaos. A red Ducati is down! Gasps, breathes held, who is it? It’s Lorenzo. He has fallen and in the gravel. That’s another place for Dovi. Remember Dovi must win and Marquez below the top eleven. Marquez sits fifth, now fourth and the championship is still his.
The camera cuts back to the Ducati in the gravel. Commentators expressing the unfortunate circumstances of Lorenzo. WAIT, NO? What’s this. The other Ducati is down! Andrea Dovizioso is also down! He is in the gravel and the championship has slipped and completely gone from the Italian. Heartbreak on what has been a phenomenal season.
Marquez now is crowned world champion and all that is left is for Pedrosa to gently caress his way past Zarco and pick up the win for Repsol Honda. What a day for the Japanese and Spanish in Spain!
It is clear now after what happened and that Lorenzo’s tactics were not necessarily wrong. While Dovi turns the bike better than Lorenzo, both riders were on the absolute limit just trying to keep up with the Honda factory bikes and the Yamaha satellite bike of Zarco. Regardless of circumstance and situation whether they needed to push Marquez more, they were simply unable to. The bike was not underneath either rider for them to accomplish it.
Marc Marquez takes his fourth MotoGP title and sixth in all classes. Phenomenal and stunning. A truly magical rider and one that is “starting” (I use that loosely towards all Rossi fans) to capture the hearts of the fans.
The battle between Marquez and Dovizioso will go down as one for the ages. I should end with Marquez here but I feel it needs to be Dovi. No-one expected the Ducati “number two” to win let alone get six wins in a season. Welcome to the party Dovi, I hope there are many, many more to come!