2023-10-20 12:51:15
The Catalan pilot Marc Marquez (Honda)30 years old, eight-time motorcycling world champion, six of them in MotoGP, winner of 85 of the 242 grands prix he has competed in, holder of 140 podiums and 92 pole positions, an absolute record in the motorcycling World Championship, he has already had 25 crashes this season and there are still five grands prix to be contested. His record is 27, in 2017, when he won his sixth world title.
Many people may be alarmed by this fact, which makes him, without a doubt, the champion who falls the most in history. But everything has its explanation. Márquez does not fall on a whim, Márquez does not fall because he is incompetent, Márquez does not fall because he is crazy. Not to mention, falling is part of motorcycling, falling is part of the best ‘Marc Márquez style’ and falling is what has allowed the young man from Cervera (Lleida) to be the best and most admired on the current MotoGP grid and in the last few. decades. In any case, these are the four reasons for so much decline.
1.Marc’s way of being
They say that, as a child, Marquez He spent the day on the ground in the parking lots of large stores and on the karting circuits where he competed with the mini motorcycle, for the simple reason that he did not know how to race any other way: hard, hard, all out. .
Once in the World Championship, where he has accumulated all the possible titles, all three, falling has always been part, not only of his way of competing, of trying, but of his way of approaching the race and finding out where the limit was. your motorcycle, every circuit and every curve. Márquez has strength in rehearsals to know how far he can go and strength in the race, to try to win.
2.When the motorcycle does not warn
During all these years, Marquez He has accumulated world titles in the major category (2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019) because, in addition to his tremendous aggressiveness and virtuoso riding style, he was accompanied by a competitive Honda. The Honda has not always been the best bike on the grid, as it was the aggressiveness and taking risks on the part of Marc which made her a winner. Yes, it was, of course, a motorcycle with which the number 93 could compete, enjoy, play and even make incredible ‘saves’, unthinkable, for any other rider. Márquez won the 2017 title with 27 falls, for example. But, on that occasion, Honda used to warn him. Now, the RC213V of recent years does not warn, it is treacherous. And Marc, who almost always falls from the front, that is, without forcing himself, cannot now save those falls.
3.A more voluminous motorcycle
Today’s motorcycles weigh approximately the same as always (157 kilos), with engines of more than 260 horsepower and a top speed of 350 km/h, but they are longer and taller. That is, more voluminous, slightly larger. “Now, when you touch the asphalt, when you start to fall, when you feel that you have lost control of the motorcycle, you no longer have time to lift it like before, with your elbow, your knee, your ass or a push of the gas. Now, the ‘saves’ are much more difficult,” explains the Cervera driver. Therefore, today, on Phillip Island, in the same corner where Márquez starred in one of his historic ‘saves’, in 2019 (the year in which he won almost everything), MM93 has gone to the ground.
4. Wanting to achieve the impossible
It is possible, very possible, that during the glory years, Márquez went to the ground in search of perfection, chasing the limit on each track to get his bike ready for the race. “Only by falling do you know where the limit is, how far you can risk. If you don’t fall, you will never know where the limit is, yours, the bike’s and the circuit’s limit,” the eight-time world champion usually says. But lately, not only because of his injuries, operations and recoveries, but also because of the mediocrity of his Honda, Márquez has tried to continue being the same as always, a winning driver, a driver who takes risks, and has ended up hurting himself. . The bike is not there for Márquez to put in, now, that little bit that it needs to be as competitive as the European ones (Ducati, Aprilia and KTM) and Márquez has also learned that with more falls, more injuries and more damage. On equal bikes or, not even that, even with a slightly inferior bike (as, for example, will happen next season), that courage of Márquez, that superior risk that he takes above others, that desire to win, that daring and extreme driving served (perhaps will serve) to make the difference and win. Now, his Honda is so inferior, so much, to the other motorcycles (the winged factory is the last in the constructors’ World Championship classification, the last!, behind Ducati, KTM, Aprilia and Yamaha), that the courage of MM93 is only good for falling. That’s why, in the end, he decided to change brands and go to Ducati.
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