On Track Off Road No. 196

well as last year’s, including the
aero package.
Later that evening there were
smiles. And just out of shot sighs
of relief. “We found the problem,”
Marquez exhaled. His time was
some way off pace setter Fabio
Quartararo. But he was within
range of both Suzukis and Maverick
Viñales. For a man that
hasn’t finished a race outside the
top two in 18 months that’s all
that is needed to know he can
push to repeat his feats of the
past four years.
Rushing to any hasty judgement
at this test is a perilous
task. Historically it’s never been
kind to Honda with the track’s
flowing sections more suited to
the Yamaha and Suzuki’s characteristics.
Repsol Honda was
approaching full-scale meltdown
here in 2016 before Marquez won
two of the first three races (and
finished third in the other) on the
way to a third premier class title.
Last year Crutchlow lingered in
17th in the test yet both were on
the podium two weeks later.
Let it not be forgotten he is still
some way off peak fitness, too.
A damaged nerve in the right
shoulder continues to prod him
with pangs of pain. His crashes
at both of this year’s tests
stemmed from a lack of upper
body strength to save the kind of
front slide he’d recover from the
brink in previous years. And unlike
the recovery twelve months
ago on the left shoulder, nerve
damage has no definitive timeline
for full rehabilitation.
And while Marquez’s mood was
upbeat, Crutchlow is only too
aware of the task ahead. “It’s
the same problem that I said I
had in Valencia when I first rode
it. It felt even worse in the area
[where last year’s bike was weakest].
It seems that they’ve carried
on with it, and this is where
we are today. So let’s see if they
can work a miracle.” It’s all well
and good building for one of the
greatest of all time to win. But if
the others struggle for top sixes,
top eights or top tens, recent history
may well repeat itself.
CREATED THANKS TO Moto3’S
NEWEST RACING TEAM
BY NEIL MORRISON