Current champ Marc Marquez aboard his prototype 2018 Repsol Honda.
Following the completion of the 2017 series, MotoGP riders stayed at Valencia for a two-day test. In addition to new machinery being tested for the 2018 series, the test saw new riders move up from Moto2 (Franco Morbidelli, Takaaki Nakagami and Xavier Simeon).
The test also saw riders moving to new machinery, including Jack Miller and Tito Rabat on satellite Ducatis, and Scott Redding on an Aprilia. Of these, Jack Miller looked the most comfortable, and fastest, on his new Ducati as he finished Day 1 in 5th position (ahead of all other Ducatis) and Day 2 in 8th.
Yamaha riders worked to understand the problems the factory team had with the 2017 chassis in the just completed series, swapping between various bikes (2016, 2017 and hybrid machines featuring 2018 parts). Three of the Yamaha riders were fast throughout the test, including Viñales (fastest on Day 1), Zarco and Rossi.
Despite taking both the individual and constructor’s titles for 2017, Honda had a brand new bike (chassis and engine) at the test, and current champ Marc Marquez ended with the fastest time overall.
Follow these links to Day 1 times and Day 2 times.
See more of MD’s great photography:
A much as I dislike Marquez personally, I must recognize that he is and incredibly talented rider, his speed and unheard ability to recover from near crashes it’s beyond words, not to mention the rubber bones that he seems to have. But also I should agree that he is on an amazing string of luck. He repeatedly falls (ok, searching limits) but NEVER get hurt, and when he made wrong tire choices and he was forced to change the rear tyre as he had nothing to loose (don’t remember what gp was), the weather came in his rescue and then he was the “master of strategy” !!. At this time this is an unbeatable combination: one of the greatest riders in history, and a seemingly unending string of luck. Hope the last came to an end soon so we can see other worthy riders crowning champions.
since this has turned into a celebration of “all things Murg” i’ll just leave this here…
https://tinyurl.com/y75g9zyf
5229 says:
November 16, 2017 at 10:32 pm
Are you actually saying a championship has been handed(or gifted)to Marquez? Yea right. You seem to call it luck. How about skill? Marquez is the the man to beat and has been for years. End of story. Already he is up in elite company in Gran Prix road racing. Can’t take that away from him.
JODY says:
November 16, 2017 at 8:56 pm
MM has had the same bike, the fastest bike with the same motor the whole time he has raced MotoGP. He is no Goat. Rossi won on 2 strokes, 990’s, 800’s and now 999’s and inferior at the time Yamaha’s. No comparison in my mind.
So one Spaniard Marquez fan and one Italian Rossi fan lol (to go with the conspiracy theories)
MM has had the same bike, the fastest bike with the same motor the whole time he has raced MotoGP. He is no Goat. Rossi won on 2 strokes, 990’s, 800’s and now 999’s and inferior at the time Yamaha’s. No comparison in my mind.
Dirck devoted an entire story to it, but the bottom line here is what I’ve been saying for years about MM; namely, that the guy is just insanely fortunate not to have missed races and thrown away championships as a result of injuries sustained from crashes. Alone among the main protagonists of MotoGP in recent years (Marquez, Lorenzo, Rossi, Dovi, Pedrosa), #93 hasn’t missed a single race due to injury, including injuries suffered while training, despite having crashed more than any of the others by a country mile.
I would hazard a guess that Marquez crashed more than both factory Yamaha guys combined these past few years, and I might even add Dani’s crashes to that tally.
The 2013 season was decided by injuries to Lorenzo and Pedrosa, handing Marc the title. Rossi’s challenge this year was scuttled by injuries, as it was back when he broke his leg a few years ago.
Marquez? Never. No matter how often he crashes, the guy never breaks a collarbone or a wrist or a tibia, forcing him to miss races or ride around at 70%, with zero chance of winning.
This can’t go on forever. Riding the way he does, his luck has to run out.
I truly hope I am reading this wrong but, it comes across a bit like “wishful thinking”. If I am off base, my sincerest apology.
BTW – The nature, not the frequency, of a crash will to some degree determine the extent of the injury.
The greater the frequency of crashes, the greater the chance of incurring crashes of different natures.
Rossi’s last two injuries were the result of riding dirt bikes, which, presumably, is an activity in which Marquez also participates.
Even the most seemingly insignificant lowside can result in a broken wrist. We see it all the time, and nearly every MotoGP rider is young, fit, flexible, etc., just as Marquez is.
Twenty-seven crashes, just this season alone. Many of them were at rather high rates of speed. He walked away unscathed from every one of them.
Somewhere, Robert Johnson smiles knowingly.
Are you actually saying a championship has been handed(or gifted)to Marquez? Yea right. You seem to call it luck. How about skill? Marquez is the the man to beat and has been for years. End of story. Already he is up in elite company in Gran Prix road racing. Can’t take that away from him.
What’s remarkable about Marquez is his ability to save the bike in incidents that would leave almost any other rider tumbling down the pavement. The Valencia race was an excellent example of that, but he did it at least 5 times this season. That allows him to push a bit harder, since he can save it.
Maybe MM has a quick reaction time. And his smaller lighter body allows him to right the bike faster than a heavier rider.
By riding and taking the bike to the edge, and over the edge by falling, he learn where the limit is and how to save it when it’s over the edge. Most of his falls occurs during practice sessions. He seldom falls during races.
Barring horrific injury (from which he is so far immune) or another Honda faux pas like the 2015 frame problem, what do you estimate is the next year for a Championship winner with initials not Marc Marquez?
This season’s stupendous racing would be even nicer if the Championship was not predestined through the early 2030s (barring early MM retirement). VR46 is still competitive at his age. A 40 year old NFL QB still kills guys in their mid 20s, ditto senior citizen (in earlier athlete eras) Drew Breese. MM would get carded in the USA at almost any bar.
Q: what do you estimate is the next year for a Championship winner with initials not Marc Marquez?
A: undefined.
basically, whenever Honda decides to release it’s strangle hold (and not a minute sooner). what most of us are failing to pay attention to is the BIG PICTURE at Big Red. next year is 2018 and the 70th anniversary (1948) of Soichiro’s “engine company”. when you look across both their automotive and motorbike sectors we see they are MOBILIZING THEIR HEAVY ARMORED DIVISIONS in advance of this date. therein begun the “Reign of Murguez has”… (Yoda voice/Imperial March plays in background)
https://tinyurl.com/ya7sd76w
Guys like MM come along every once in awhile and are nearly unbeatable, whether it’s a combo of machinery or competition…Ago dominated 2 classes most years for nearly a decade. Nieto had 13 World Championships. Rossi, Hailwood, Surtees, Read all have more championships than MM. There is no denying that MM is very special and has the right combo of skills, machinery and drive, but there are more than a few guys on the grid capable of beating him on a daily basis incl Rossi, Lorenzo, Dovisioso and Pedrosa and some guys coming up like Zarco and Morbidelli that have exceptional skills as well.
re: “there are more than a few guys on the grid capable of beating him on a daily basis incl Rossi, Lorenzo, Dovisioso and Pedrosa and some guys coming up like Zarco and Morbidelli that have exceptional skills as well.”
Mickey sees the ironclad law of NATCORK (and obeys).
If Yamaha hadn’t lost their way mid-season, Vinales would’ve run away with the thing. Dovi won six times this year. MM is great, but as the conversation above implies, he’s also VERY lucky. There is no skill that keeps you out of the hospital after 27 crashes. He needs to clean that up. That luck *will* run out.
gentlemen, don’t be surprised if one day you’re driving down I5 and you see Marc’s face on a giant billboard sporting one of those “milk mustaches” in a revived ad campaign for the American Dairy Council…
the kid’s “drinking milk”.
You can just hear the moaning and groaning over in the Yam, Duc, Suz, KTM, and Aprilia camps now. Not ANOTHER year of this kid being fastest ..geesh! Lol
“Honda had a brand new bike (chassis and engine) at the test, and current champ Marc Marquez ended with the fastest time overall”
Basically antinatcork.
The kid is on the route to be the most laureate moto gp driver and it doesn’t matter the machine: he will win.
on the other hand JL could open an entry for NAIMCORD
NoAmountOfIncredibleMachineCanOvercomeRecalcitrantDriver
You are giving Norm a run for his money.
🙂
aw man, i just blew diet soda through my nose… LOL
Q: who’s better than the people at MD…?
A: no one. 🙂