Marc Marquez sits with a perfect 150 points after winning each of the first six rounds of the MotoGP championship. He has everything to lose from this point forward, and would almost certainly win the championship by simply landing on the podium each week in the remaining 12 rounds.
On the other hand, Jorge Lorenzo has everything to gain after a disastrous start to the series. A close second place finish to Marquez in the last round at Mugello two weeks ago, may portend a shift at the front of the pack in several of the remaining rounds.
Last year, when Marquez won the championship as a rookie, you could see him back off a bit and take a safe place on the podium rather than battle Lorenzo near the end of the series. With an 85 point lead over Lorenzo after the first six rounds, can we expect Marquez to start riding defensively (and conservatively) when the inevitable battles ensue with Lorenzo at the front?
Lorenzo is an extremely aggressive rider, and he and Marquez touched at least once at Mugello during their fight.
The other factor is the improvement of the Yamaha, particularly on the brakes. Recent statements by both Lorenzo and teammate Valentino Rossi indicate the Yamaha has greatly improved in this area, bringing it closer to the performance of the Repsol Hondas.
The Repsol Hondas have long since mastered the electronics associated with clutch-less downshifts while entering the corner, and Yamaha is closing in on this technological advantage.
So will an aggressive Lorenzo, with an improved bike, start to win races against Marquez soon? Time will tell, of course, but we might see the first Marquez defeat this weekend at Catalunya.
I believe in 2012 Pedrosa won 7 races and still lost the Championship. It’s not over until it’s over.
Pedrosa is NOT Marquez
haha so true!
Hmm.. I tought that both Rossi and Pedrosa were ahead of Lorenzo in the points before Mugello (now even further). Neither is a second-tier rider, both very capable of winning any race and perhaps the championship, if Marquez falters.
It might be that this weekend will be the first defeat for Marquez. The track doesn’t suit him and the Yamahas have improved. But the odds are he will be in the top three, even on a bad day. It will be tough for Lorenzo to catch Marquez picking up 5 or 7 points at a time.
Honda has the strongest development system and the best rider in Marquez. You can’t win every weekend at the top level (see F1 in Canada last weekend) but the odds are Marquez will win the majority of the remaining races until he goes into point conservation mode later in the year. I wish poor old Pedrosa would step it up, Hamilton and Rosberg in F1 have shown one team dominating a seires doesn’t have to be dull.
Goose
It appeared Lorenzo was going wide after turns at Mugello. Near the end of the race, he fell back into a routine it seemed.
“Lorenzo is an extremely aggressive rider.” Really? What’s that make Marquez? Or Rossi?! Jorge is a silky smooth rider who likes to lead and ride his own race if at all possible, Vale and Marc are much more likely to attack under braking and in unusual places in comparison.
Marquez just seems to be able to turn it on at will. I think that stacked up against this years riders he is in a class of his own! It is nice to see Rossi on a competitive bike, but this is 35 year old Rossi. The 20 year old Rossi would have given Marquez a run for his money I’m sure!! Then again, drag Casey Stoner back, put him on a Honda, and see what he can do!
re: “this is 35 year old Rossi”
checa, biaggi, and bayliss have put their heads together and come up with the name…
“babe in the woods”.
Yeah. This “babe in the woods” is taking the geezers behind the woodshed – ha ha
This “babe in the woods” is taking the geezers behind the woodshed – ha ha
yup, we heard you the first time, but FYI, there’s no Superman.
when the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont were recently being discussed, observe the headlines and focus were on “California Chrome” and it’s owner(s)…? with very little chatter about the jockey.
there’s an analogy in here somewhere.
Norm G., I just gotta say you are consistently the best commenter on this site.
“The 20 year old Rossi would have given Marquez a run for his money I’m sure!!”
The 20 year old Rossi would’ve done what he did – win the 250 title and nine races…
Kenny Roberts would’ve mopped the floor with all of them!
What about that?
Oh Heavens!!! What about Giacomo Agostini???? Those Italians just have more style
In a way he did at Mugello,problem that I saw was him being down some 5-10kmh per lap according to the speeds posted over at the MGP website.The Ducati were almost that much faster than the HRC bikes by comparison fwiw.HM
I’d rather see an aggressive Rossi, with an improved bike, start to win races against Marquez soon.
Lorenzo really has been rattled by Marquez this season, making every mistake Jorge’s made and issue with the tires or bike even more pronounced.
re: “I’d rather see an aggressive Rossi, with an improved bike, start to win races”
+1, @ -85 jay’s not in it.
I’d rather see a different rider win every week.
Time will tell…………