[kropotkin thinks...] - Guest Blog: Mat Oxley - Marc Márquez: 'He’s playing'

[Ninjette Newsbot]

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MotoMatters.com is delighted to feature the work of iconic MotoGP writer Mat Oxley. Oxley is a former racer, TT winner and highly respected author of biographies of world champions Mick Doohan and Valentino Rossi, and currently writes for Motor Sport Magazine, where he is MotoGP correspondent. We are featuring sections from Oxley's blogs, which are posted in full on the Motor Sport Magazine website.

Marc Márquez: “He’s playing”

If you are a MotoGP rider, may I suggest you don’t read the following, but if you insist on putting yourself through the pain, might I suggest cracking open a beer and then afterwards you can arrange an appointment with your doctor who may be able to subscribe a course of anti-depressants; say 60mg of Prozac or 20mg of Citalopram, just to keep your pecker up, that’s all.

If you are a MotoGP rider who doesn’t go by the name of Marc Márquez, the deeply depressing reality is that whatever you are doing out there is no longer enough. It’s like someone has changed the rules of the game and no one bothered to tell you and now it’s too late to catch up.

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[Alex]

Fun read...

[Sirref]

so, what he's saying is that marquez has so much control over the bike that he can make it look like he's going to crash on purpose for the sake of messing with his mechanics? I call bullshit, yea he's faster but he's no god. agostini and rossi must've appeared the same as him when they were at their peaks, men who just understood something that no one else on the track did and used their advantage to win. Eventually someone is going to catch on and get faster with him, other than lorenzo who has had a really bad start to the season so far.

[Alex]

He's riding looser than anyone one the grid, and doing it with confidence. It's worth almost a second a lap, which is an eternity at this level of racing. What's interesting is that for several years, the Lorenzo model of ultimate smoothness (don't upset the bike, carry high corner speed in wide arcs without the tires getting out of line) has been pointed to as the way forward. Marquez is doing something completely different, and gapping the field. It's also more exciting to watch.

Comparing across eras is always hard. Ago was in a class of his own, but not only due to his talent. His bikes were so superior that he'd sometimes lap the field. In the early Rossi era it wasn't quite so lopsided, but he also has had the best bike in the field his entire career, save for his Ducati days. The Honda that Marquez is on is likely the best bike in the field here in 2014, but with everyone under the same engine constraints, some electronic constraints, spec tires across the field; a rider that is head and shoulder faster than his peers is exactly that: faster than his peers.

[Sirref]

I think both models are capable of moving forward. At the end of last season Lorenzo had almost caught up to Marquez in points despite injuries across the season. Granted Lorenzo hasn't been doing so hot so far it's only 2 races in and I'm expecting some interesting battles to come out of them which will be made more interesting by the differences in their riding styles.

I will admit, marquez is amazing to watch, the sheer level of comfort he has with the bike in situations which would put other motogp racers on edge is nothing short of astonishing.

[Alex]

Originally Posted by Sirref

I think both models are capable of moving forward.

It doesn't generally work that way. Someone finds an advantage and exploits it. Others follow.

Back in the days when multiple tire manufacturers were in the series, and building specific tires for specific riders' riding styles, there may have been more flexibility for people to ride how they preferred. That's no longer an option, so the people going the fastest are those who manage to get the greatest performance out of the same tires that their competitors are on. It was thought that the Lorenzo style got the most out of these very hard, very stiff, very high-grip Bridgestone slicks. Marquez is proving that wrong.

[Sirref]

True, I just meant that I don't think it's over between the two styles just yet. When there's a clear winner people will adjust for sure in the name of becoming faster.

[subxero]

makes me think of Garry McCoy from the 500cc days only Marquez doesn't crash as much

He was fun to watch.

[Sirref]

Originally Posted by subxero

makes me think of Garry McCoy from the 500cc days only Marquez doesn't crash as much

He was fun to watch.

marquez crashes plenty in practice, just not in the races

he had a few really rough tumbles last year that I'm surprised didn't injure him

[Alex]

You're right, I think he had the most crashes of any GP regular last year. But that's not unique either. The fastest guys as they come up all get that rep for crashing often as they push their limits, then learn how to not crash and stay fast. Lorenzo crashed way more than anyone else his rookie year. Same with Stoner.

[Sirref]

so the thing to learn here is, if you want to be the fastest you need to be willing to explore the limits thoroughly and crash repeatedly doing so.

[Alex]

It's apparently not uncommon. If you don't go over the limits occasionally, it seems it's harder to verify that you're really at those limits, especially for younger riders.

[Sirref]

it makes sense, the only way order to truly understand where the limits are is to incrementally approach them until you exceed them. More experienced riders just know what it feels like as they get closer to said limits.

[ninjamunky85]

The dominance of Marquez has made for a less interesting season so far IMO. I just get tired of seeing the Honda's in the lead every race, I mean c'mon,.. the last race was ridiculous.

It has to suck being Pedrosa though. He was set to be the best in the sport when Stoner retired,.. until Marquez came along. He was what two seconds ahead of everyone else last race? problem is Marquez was five!

I've been hoping that Lorenzo or Rossi do something, Rossi's been looking OK, Lorenzo's season has a big disappointment so far.

[Sirref]

Anyone know what happened to rossi last race? He was trading 3rd with iannone and then suddenly dropped into 8th for the rest of the race.

Lorenzo just needs to not royally screw himself and he can fight with marquez, a crash out is acceptable as it happens to pretty much everyone from time to time but the bad start left me thinking wtf. Still he managed to get a top 10 finish from starting in last with a sizeable gap between himself and the pack.

[Alex]

Rossi destroyed his front tire within a few laps. A number of riders were having issues with it, but it was pretty bad for both him and Redding.

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