RideFast Nov 2019

nice chunk of horsepower over
the winter, Quartararo could
make life very difficult indeed for
Márquez next year.
That, perhaps, is just the
motivation Márquez needs.
Where Márquez and his team
have been so strong in the past
few years is in their attention to
detail. That expresses itself in
a number of ways. In strategy:
they were the first to try doing
three runs in qualifying, rather
than two, giving Márquez an
extra shot with a new tyre.
They also use FP2 as race
preparation, not bothering to
throw a tyre in at the end to
ensure passage to Q2. They
prefer to concentrate on race
pace under conditions as similar
as possible to the race, chasing
times in the morning sessions of
FP1 and FP3.
In preparation: Márquez
and his team turn up to each
race with a plan to minimize
time lost. They try to cut down
the tyre choices as quickly as
possible, preferably before the
weekend even starts, preferring
to concentrate on understanding
tyre wear over race distance
rather than going back and
forth between similar tyres to
see if one has marginally better
performance than the other.
Márquez, too, is constantly
working on his preparation,
using his training to try to further
hone his technique and look
for ways to improve. He rides
motocross and a lot of dirt track,
and not just on ovals.
To go from this massive crash on the Friday in
Thailand to winning the race and the MotoGP
title on Sunday was truly spectacular!
Around Spain, more and
more dirt tracks are springing up
with a mixture of left and right
corners, and Márquez uses this
to get a feel for how the bike
reacts. And he works on sliding
the front, feeling when it goes,
always at the limit in his quest to
understand just how grip works
on a motorcycle.
Pushing the Envelope
Marc Márquez has moved
the bar in motorcycle racing,
like all great riders who came
before him. The challenge he
now faces is that the riders
coming after him have grown
up watching him race, studying
him on video, reading about his
training techniques, working to
emulate him.
He has gone from upstart
chasing the champions who
came before him – the Valentino
Rossis, the Jorge Lorenzos, the
Dani Pedrosas – to being the
champion the young upstarts
are coming after. He caught
riders who carried the target
on their backs, and has now
transferred it to his own.
Márquez is not yet done
winning. Though he has no
real sense of his legacy – no
riders do: if you gave them
a choice between winning
a championship but being
forgotten, and becoming a legend
while not winning again, they
would choose the silverware
every single time – there are still
targets left to achieve.
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Can Fabio Quatararo be the man to take the fight to Marquez in 2020 and beyond?
He did a great job in this his rookie season in the premier class.
DISTRIBUTED BY AMP
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48 RIDEFAST MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2019