I believe Marc Marquez. I believe we should all trust his self assessment. Marquez says that, as a race competitor he is both an “asshole” (at 19 seconds in the video here) and a “bastard” (at 40 seconds in the video here).
Professional racers are aggressive, by nature, and this may be a necessary trait for success. But Marc Marquez, in my opinion, is something beyond aggressive. Something detrimental to the sport and damaging to his motorcycle sponsor, Honda. He is too often reckless, and in conscious disregard for the safety of himself and other riders on the track with him. This opinion is based on closely observing his career for more than a decade. This opinion is also based on some of the other professional racers who have competed with him and called him, at times, “dangerous” and “out of control”.
Sporting success generally helps a motorcycle manufacturer. The saying is “Win on Sunday. Sell on Monday.” But winning at all costs … winning with a rider who behaves like an “asshole” and a “bastard” on the race track does not benefit the Honda brand.
Ducati’s Pecco Bagnaia and Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo have reputations as “clean riders.” These guys are fast and can win races and championships while embracing sportsmanship and respect for their fellow competitors. Perhaps they need to be a little bit faster than the purely selfish riders to achieve this success. But they have embraced this level of sportsmanship, nonetheless. They do their motorcycle sponsors proud.
Is it irony? Hyprocracy? Honda spent many years promoting its brand by proclaiming “You meet the nicest people on a Honda.” Now, of course, the rider Honda seems most proud of is Marc Marquez.
Apparently, I’m not the only observer who has tired of the reckless, selfish behavior of Marquez. Here is a quote from Keith Huewen on Crash.net:
“But Marc Marquez is ruthless. He will do whatever it takes to get himself where he needs to be. That’s what’s slightly scary about Marc. And that’s what keeps everybody on edge around him.
Marc knows the Honda isn’t the best bike at the moment and he’s shown no shame when it comes to doing things that people might say is ungentlemanly, like being dragged around [by a tow] in qualifying.
The incident with Oliveira was 100% a penalty. He was already out of control on the opening lap.”
After acknowledging fault in the Oliveira crash last weekend, and “accepting” a penalty (two long laps in the next race) that many felt was insufficient punishment, Honda is now appealing a clarification of that penalty by the race stewards. The wording of the original penalty specified that it would apply at the Argentina round next weekend, but was clarified as follows:
“Considering the injury and non-participation of Marc Marquez, at the Gran Premio Michelin de la Republica Argentina, and with a view to comply with the intention underlying the decision by the FIM MotoGP Stewards Panel, the Double Long Lap Penalty shall be served by the Rider at the next MotoGP Race in which he will be able to participate.”
If Honda’s appeal is successful, Marquez, thanks to his self-inflicted wound, will receive no penalty whatsoever. Miguel Oliveira, on the other hand, who was the innocent target of the Marquez torpedo at Portimao, has already been punished with an undeserved injury and will sit out, at the very least, the next round in Argentina.
I figured this article would inspire some interesting commentary. I was not disappointed! 🙂
Call me Old fashioned but I don’t like the way Marc Marquez rides much the same way I do not like how Ayrton Senna drove.
A supreme non-sequitur. I’d bet even money that during Ayrton Senna’s racing career he never had four consecutive seasons in which his point total was meaningless, which describes MM93’s current status. (2024 season will be #5 for MM93.)
Don’t worry, I’ll save your ridiculous analogy: Senna is deceased and his effect on the F1 Championship equals MM93’s impact on MotoGP, well except that MM93 took out Olivera too this season.
Olivera can rest assured that MM93 can even the field and take out several more racers when he returns.
Do not buy a Honda
Kawasaki and Suzuki or in other order.
At least, Marc Marquez is a kind of gymnast to escape that ongoing situations. I mean at motorcycle
I am about to buy a Kawasaki ZX-10R 🙂 I love that brand.
I remembered how I felt about Dani Pedrosa when he took Nicky Hayden out (when he was leading the championship I believe). I was so pissed for a couple weeks until I realized that’s racing and sh*t happens.
Over time I began to really like Pedrosa for who he is (a fine human being who seems to be shy with a skill for riding I will never achieve myself) and I stopped hating him for one mistake he made in a sport that plays on the knife’s edge.
no issues from this crowd whatsoever with Zarco (2020 Austrian GP) slamming into franco at 200 m/ph resulting both their “flying at 200 m/ph” bikes coming within millimeters of killing Rossi (and Vinales). Zarco is the worst of, and an actual, “win it or bin it” offender I can think of in recent times.
no calls here to execute Zarco or ban him or or slag him to death.
i feel sorry for the MM haters here who are not going to have MM to fixate their blame(misery) upon regarding the crashes that will occur, in MM’s abscense, this weekend.
john, let it go, you’re obsessing again.
well, one of us certainly is.
Whataboutism at its finest!
Next time try blurting out, “Look at that shiny thing over there!”
just watched some very recent MotoGp topic commentary on YT.
all of them were related to MM’s recent crash (at least partly or entirely). none of them spit in MM’s face.
aside from Oliviera’s team, noone called for bans or heavy penalties or end MM’s career…just give a consistant penalty for the mistake he made.
I like having Oliviera on the grid but he’s never ever ever going to win a championship…he is an occasional spoiler and that’s it.
Jack Miller (whom has been crashed off the track more than most, it seems, in the past two seasons) said this…I’m mostly paraphrasing…
–people bump and crash other racers out…that’s racing…that’s this sport. when marquez does it though, people want to stick a knife into his back. ban him get rid of him etc,. etc.. etc..–
marquez raised the bar (far too uncomfortably high for most). while marquez was gone the bar was lowered and everbody enjoyed that relief. Mir, FQ, and Pecca won championships in that era which is still.
MM is not going to come back and raise the bar again…he may occasionally prove that he could if he had a bike to ride but that’s it.
the truth of the issue is nobody wants that bar raised again during their careers!
they don’t want the bar raised so they don’t want MM back at full strength man and machine. Period.
I like Pecca but I most certainly do not consider him to be a bar raising talent. He came back from a 90 point defecit but on the same hand FQ built a 90 point defecit on him. Both are talented but neither is not bar raising. I’d like to see FQ on a bike with top end speed. That would make for an interesting season.
Ohh and as far as the article above with MM trash talking himself…what did you expect he would do when talking about himself?
this isn’t a Rossi article where Rossi would be doing nothing but extolling his own past virtues and self-inflating his own ego ten fold higher than what it was already. MM is humble and has class. Those two character traits of MM’s are rare in today’s high caliber/celebrity sport athletes.
I find it more likely that the rest caught up with Marquez during his “off” years. He’s obviously talented on a bike beyond almost anyone ever, but no small part of his, at one time, almost staggering gap to the rest, was pure Chutzpah: He was the first to dive in blindly and basically trust the, at that time, rapidly improving electronic aids. Didn’t even flinch about doing things which last year, or last month, would have resulted in an off even for someone s talented as him.
Now all the younger riders also ride that way. Intuitively. After all, they grew up being pushed around in IMU and winglet equipped strollers with slide control…. So he can no longer assume that he will end up clear ahead into any position he challenges, by sheer force of devil-may-car alone. Hence often don’t. And then instead ends up running into someone else who also stayed on it just as long as he does, and hence also got there.
Well I like him.
I haven’t watched, just read. Val had incidents along the way in his better days, Simoncelli was soundly criticized for aggressive riding. There’s such a fine line to tread. I’m not a big MM fan but you can’t erase his accomplishments. Honda, on the other hand has a history of praising the bike and damning the rider in other genres of racing. I hope he joins his brother on Ducati. Then we’ll see if he is truly finished or on a steeper decline.
An aside to the discussion here is the inability of people to have appositional opinions without taking it at a personal level and leave the room stomping ones feet. This is a larger issue than just the microscopic discussion taking place within this topic. At one time motorcyclists could have been considered people toughened by the rigours of single track travel. Grilled by the sun, wind torn, rain soaked, and bug splattered. Simply scrolling past what you find offensive ( geez ya bunch of sissies) and enjoy the opinions of those who align with your narrow minded views. Otherwise feel free to not run away crying and learn from the ebb and flow of a variety of ideology taking lesson from the valid information. Cheers
We are all being used by a boss, until we are no longer useful to the boss. Marquez is being used by Honda bosses to win races on a Honda. Whatever it takes. He might want to smooth out his edges a bit, for personal marketing reasons for a life after Honda. And he might want to step back and reflect that he is just a human among all his fellow humans stuck in a dangerous, daily grind, and work to collectively improve their racing life together. Or not.
Bad perfomance by Marc Marquez. On the other hand Pol Espargaro accident was much more terrible.
The elephant in the room, no one is talking about, is he set POLE. He commented he had to get that by braking late, since his Honda lacks the off corner acceleration of the Ducatis. So after 2 laps, he locks his front, and not being the only one who crashed and took someone out this last weekend, its all doom and gloom for him only. Will this hatred be the same for anyone else this year, who chances to lock his front tire, and take someone out?
he did take take pole but none including him expected it.
he took a Sprint podium because while he was in 5th…3rd and 4th place riders errored and allowed him to pass close enough to the finish line.
that’s his only strategy until Honda delivers a ridable bike.
like i said before…Pecca does not consider MM a threat to his 2023 repeat. that’s a big
statement as to Honda and to MM’s talent.
many have to meet ‘the bar’…few raise it.
MM raised it. MM’s absence lowered the bar for Mir, FQ and Pecca. I don’t see any of them raising the bar back up.
oops. should read “statement as to Honda and NOT to MM’s talent.’
The sum total significance of MM93’s pole at the end of the season is zero, while MM93 watches TV to see the Champion receive his trophy.
MM93’s epitaph: “Better luck next year”
Quoting Crash.net? That is a clue.
A potentially overlooked aspect of MM’s crash-related health downgrades was the the latest double-vision episode. As I head into my last riding years, I know my eyesight is not what it used to be, so I realize my days of blitzing every apex are done. And while old eyes are OK for road speeds, you can’t ride at the top levels if you can’t see accurately.
If the corrective eye surgery in MM’s youth improved his eyesight beyond the 20-20 or reactive norms, he had an advantage over most of the grid. But that advantage, either by injury or age, is probably gone.
This would explain why he so desperately needs a tow to set a competitive time for Q2 and a better grid position. He needs a “rabbit” to chase like a greyhound. If he can’t see his track markers as well as he once did, and with his “win it or bin it” attitude, he is more prone to “mistakes”. Mistakes which slow him down and makes him feel he must be more aggressive to get or keep a position on track.
But in the end, growing older gracefully is not for the weak of heart or character. MM is not 18 anymore and he needs to stop riding like he is. Ride smarter, not merely with more aggression. He is already well past what most in the sport see as excessively aggressive, so more is not helpful for MM, the other riders or the sport.
But Race Direction tends to turn a blind eye when the Golden Boy du jour is involved. They did the same for Rossi, but that doesn’t justify the current willful blindness, as the speeds are higher leaving less room for miscalculations.
Old age and cunning will often beat youthful enthusiasm, and until now MM “proved the rule”, as Rossi did before him. But Father Time yields to no man.
Great point AP, makes a lot of sense.
MM is feeling frustrated, angry, and upset. His situation has forced mistakes (namely not telling HRC to f–k right oFF with their garbage equipment) and like many many other is employing a very common trait called self abasing….it’s because he is humble and gracious enough to do it.
it’s been a very long time since Motorcycledaily has been on my ‘favorites’ tab.
this latest article is the last article i will see at this low class MM hater-fest site.
great job Dirk. you’ve sunken this site even more deeply into the mud by pandering to the only members you have left which are primarily the true blue MM haters.
mainly the only people that come here are those wanting to let everyone else know how much they too still hate a motorcycle rider.
Brilliant…and you are now catering to the lowest class i—-s.
adios i—-s, enjoy your misery.
Wow, a website dedicated to MM hating! I didn’t know. Let me never visit here again!? Not
yes and don’t look at the car wreckage while driving slowly by it!? Not
Hyperbole, much? “…website dedicatated to MM hating…”
I’m not sure if I should laugh at you or pity you….
Heaven forbid anyone speak ill of the divine being that is, Marc Marquez. This is the first article on this site that I’ve ever seen calling Marquez out for what he is, an out of control, menace. Apparently that’s just one too many for the Marquez toadies, so we must lash out at anyone with the gaul to write something even remotely unflattering and label them as “miserable” and “low class”? You truly need some help, life’s really not that bad and someone writing unflattering articles about your messiah isn’t the end of the world, seek therapy.
Also, I couldn’t let this drivel go. His “situation” is forcing mistakes? You clearly are a true, dyed in the wool Marquez boot licker, so maybe you weren’t paying attention in the past. His dangerous riding didn’t just start, it’s not a new development, he’s always been that way. For some strange reason, people weren’t willing to admit what their eyes were seeing while he was dominating the class. I guess it’s human nature to kick someone while they’re down but with Marquez it was warranted a very long time ago.
“His dangerous riding didn’t just start, it’s not a new development, he’s always been that way”
“This is the first article on this site that I’ve ever seen calling Marquez out”
thank you Nathan for precisely detailing my point and your own ignorance and creative thinking.
MM’s been 100% sh–t forever ‘you say’…and this site is only just now for the very first time ever ‘posting’ such an article ‘you say’.
Pray tell Nathan, what other reason than to simply to pander to you MM hater fu=-ups, you few the only regulars left, has Dirck posted the article then?
once MM is gone I wonder who you fine folks will impress your ignorance and misery upon.
yes, maybe will l check in once a while to class the place up as it surely needs it. “bootlicker’ holy f…good one Nathan. please never ever change and give credit where credit is due. enjoy your misery.
also…
Nathan you can and do say whatever you like about MM. your opinion of him and me is of no concern as it’s just another opinion.
what i find more amusing and am delighted to call to your attention is your obvious ignorance.
again…you stated that MM is garbage and has been from the start. others agree.
Lets go with that…no argument.
i’ve stated MM should not be allowed on any race track. i assume you and others also agree.
i do hope you are able to comprehend so far because the next bit might be a teeny weeny little more tricky for you…
if what you say, and others also say, about MM is true then why has MotoGP allowed mr. marquez on any of it’s race tracks for a decade?
point being…here’s the tricky part you seem to like to not to understand…or admit to…MotoGp is the authority. It’s their party. Period.
I say MM is doing exactly what he’s been told to do by Honda…take this piece of s–t bike on that race track and go as fast as you can.
Honda is garbage for that but they are not above MotoGp.
MotoGp is more garbage for allowing the ‘bleep, bleep, bleep-ity, bleep bleep bleep, MM and his garbage bike on their race tracks.
No?
I’m certain that if you, Nathan form motorcycledaily, were put in charge of MotoGP (complete and full authority…no court of appeals, lawyer hassles…nothing…you word is absolute law no arguments from any party) your first order of business would be to immediately retire MM…no?
So why hasn’t MotoGP done the same?
Honda’s bribes?
OK…does that excuse MotoGP or make MotoGP more garbage?
it is Honda and MotoGP that are the problem. MM just doing what he knows.
You still disagree.
John, is your real name Marc? Are you the Kevin Durant of the motorcycle racing world? If not, your maniacal obsession with him is not healthy.
If other peoples opinions of you or Marquez are of no concern, why are you expending so much effort assailing those that disagree with you?
once again…I am simply interested in pointing out your ignorrance. you do make it very easy because of your unhealthy maniacal obsession with MM.
if your ignorrance was solely pinned to an alternate rider I would point out your ignorrance just the same.
what i find funny though is that you sure do like to not answer/acknowledge, nor are able to refute, simple questions though hey Nathan. No worries…It’s no wonder why to anybody here.
try to keep the facts straight Nathan.
your opinions on any matter are indeed of no concern. informed opinions can be though.
with regards to MM I strongly doubt you know anymore about him than I do which is very very little.
it’s the abundance of ignorance shown towards MM that amuses me and to which I address. your diagnosis regarding my mental health is somewhat amusing in that vein as is your concern regarding how i spend MY time.
if you feel assailed by me you, your wrong, but I do understand how you like to feel that way.
it’s oddly funny that I answer your simple questions yet you haven’t mine.
when a person wins 8 premier championships, that feat would rather impossible if what you claim that person is, is in fact true.
others seem capable to grasp that simple concept regardless of their personal feelings and preferences towards that person who accomplished that amazing feat.
what character flaw do you suppose it is that makes people not only dismiss (not recognize nor acknowledge) the feats accomplished by MM but happily, strongly, and falsely slag MM in web forums?
*vain
Bye Bye John, go flush
hello Robbie, i flushed but it floated back up.
I see, you floated back up. Well done. Glad to hang out with you in the bowl.
drinks are on me
Totally uncalled-for criticism of MD and Dirck. My other half was in Portugal this weekend and she said there was a great deal of anger towards MM for taking their boy out as he did.
you don’t say?!?
What MM does on the track hardly affects Honda sales because the vast majority of riders couldn’t give a hoot about racing at any level. MM is MM and we all know what to expect from him on the track. He does make racing more exciting for those that only watch races for the crashes and expect him to provide them with excitement. He doesn’t fail in that regard.
” the vast majority of riders couldn’t give a hoot about racing at any level”
*In America..
All i know is that if i did some of the on-track shit that Marquez has pulled at my local trackday, i’d be blackballed and banned immediately.
Marquez is a menace, and his fans are MAGA-like in their blind devotion.
Really?
Is that what they said on the View?
KEK
Suggestion. Please leave the politics out of it here, commie soy boy.
The only thing I have to write is this question:
Was Marc Marquez getting penalties back when he was at his peak?
No doubt Marquez is a poor sportsman by any definition and should have been penalized more over the years. History might not be as kind if he played by the rules (according to the record book anyway) but who knows?
And…. Hey Mick… he didn’t murder anyone. Putz
Not yet anyway.
Not much for metephor or Chinese curses in the Motoman zone.
Noted.
Marc is too dangerous and is the definition of poor sportsmanship on the track. Skilled? Of course he’s skilled, he’s in MotoGP. But, true skill is winning on your own, not at the cost of others.
Does everyone remember Rossi’s last year he had a shot at one last title? Rossi got so fed up with Marquez running into him and cutting off his lines that he pulled that maneuver where he slowly ran Marquez off the track. That bonehead move ultimately cost Rossi that last title, but that’s how fed up he was with Marquez.
Honda is doing plenty to damage their reputation by not giving the best rider a competitive bike.
Spoken like a true Andrew Tate fan.
Projection is a bitch.
I obviously don’t watch the races. But I do look at incidents brought to my attention here and elsewhere.
I have long maintained that I basically would not sign up to ride ANY event that this entitled young man has also entered.
But make no mistake. This man is entitled because MotoGP powers that be entitled him. He is murderous because he got away with it so many times.
If any other rider rode the this guy in the last race they would have gotten a much stiffer penalty.
Marquez was dominant for many years due to his “win and all costs” and perhaps lucky not to have experienced serious injury earlier in his career. Of course, winners are grinners and it is only over the last couple of years that Marquez has come under fire. I think his aggression, etc currently under scrutiny is due to the decline of Honda’s machines. There is the argument that over time, Marquez’s abilities may have cost Honda the bike development it needed to stay competitive as his team mates and satellite team riders have not been able to compete on their Hondas for years. Thus, the conclusion is plausible that the reason other Honda riders aren’t competing well is because they lack the extreme aggression and disregard for safety Marquez embraces at times on underdeveloped bikes. Should Honda then be taking the blame for Marquez’s riding style and accept that their riders are only going to be able to compete by being overly aggressive and dangerous? After all, they are paying him. Unfortunately, without Marquez Honda has no relevance to MotoGP at the moment. I do agree that they would drop Marquez in a heartbeat if they had another winning rider, but I don’t think they have the bike to do that as the bike they have is tailored for Marquez.
The issue of dangerous and potentially reckless riding is perhaps further highlighted by the similar woes at Yamaha. Fabio Quartararo was the sole rider competing on the Yamaha over the last couple of years was able to nearly pull repeat MotoGP championship last year with an inferior Yamaha underneath him. There does not seem to be complaint about his riding.
Simply put, Honda put all their eggs in the one rider basket and they are now paying the price as no-one else can compete on it.
Meanwhile at Ducati, they have flooded the grid with as many bikes with established and emerging talents on board to ensure the brand develops to a multi-rider winner formulae. Their fortunes are on completely different trajectories to Honda and Yamaha.
With the growth of the European brands on the grid, Ducati (with multiple riders winning GPs) and Aprilia (and to a lesser extent KTM) their focus would appear to be the development of the best machine in order to develop the best riders rather than having the best rider whose freakish talent and aggression disguises the limitations of the machines. Certainly, the European’s desire to dominate MotoGP seems far more committed than the Japanese. In any case, Honda and Yamaha appear to have lost their way. That for me that is the big story.
I think the main reason the downward spiral of Honda & Yamaha is the way the technological emphasis in MotoGP is going which is Aerodynamics.
Alan Cathcart recently published a three part interview with Stefan Pierer, CEO at KTM.
The entire interview is fantastic. But if all you want to check out is the brief MotoGP segment, it’s toward the end of part 3. He said that they underestimated aerodynamics and were fortunate to have Red Bull’s help with them. He also talks about costs, Ducati’s crazy ideas, Suzuki bailing and the need for specific qualifying bikes and setups.
Whatever, it’s a great interview that’s worth looking up. I’m not going to tell you where it is because I feel that would be rude to MD.
I’ll have to read this interview, thanks for the heads up.
For anyone that watches practice/qualifying you will hear a whole lot about this. To me, these conversations, along with watching the riders work their way up to the limit, is often more interesting than the races themselves.
The Japanese teams are hopelessly behind in terms of development because they are stubborn in their mindset. They have always slowly and methodically developed their bikes over the course of many seasons, which simply doesn’t work anymore. They refuse to think in terms of innovation of new tech like the Euro teams are, so they’re stuck playing catch-up. When they cant figure things out ( adaptive suspension, aero, etc.. ) they complain about it and try to get it banned using pathetic excuses like danger or excessive costs. Ducati’s “crazy ideas” have pushed these bikes to places nobody ever thought they’d see. I think it’s fantastic to see these things and the Japanese are just crying because they’ve lost their monopoly over the sport.
Or maybe the Italians are currently just better at it.
When writing your article you first need to consider the big brother nature of factory teams. Honda has and always has had the opinion that the Honda motorcycle wins the race and the rider is the reason a Honda loses a race. Honda considers the rider the weak link in the formula to a championship. The nearest Honda to MM is running times more similar to Moto2 lap times than top tier Moto GP. The combined pressures of riding on out dated equipment, returning from injury, past performance, and the continuous hovering eye of Honda has to take its toll on.rider. I’m sure other factory teams also have their mirco management ills, Casey Stoner could tell you much better details than I.
I am no fan of MM and I enjoy Ducati domination in Moto GP, but I also like the Aprilia, KTM, and sorely miss Suzuki efforts. The ability to put that Honda on the front row in qualifying is masterly, perhaps even legendary. Personally I think MM should retire his list of injuries and possibility of aggravating previous injuries is too great. If he has a career ending incident Honda will toss him in the trash.
Salute MM a memorable champion with gifts unlike any previous rider.
Marc is the best, and he’s also the worst. Unfortunately, the former has always necessitated the general acceptance of the latter.
His is not a unique situation. We see it in all walks of life, wherein the top performer is permitted to operate under a separate set of rules…as long as he remains a top performer.
Bottom line, is the juice worth the squeeze?
For many years, it certainly was, in Marc’s case. We’ll see whether that remains the case going forward.
I respectfully disagree. I’ve seen many racers come up through the ranks. When they are young, they are overly aggressive because they don’t realize the consequences. Then they learn the consequences. But not Marc. He has not matured. He’s gotten a LOT faster but he’s still a squid. Ricky Carmichael once said the best riders win championships on their worse days … by salvaging fifth place or sixth or maybe tenth. Marc has never learned that. For him it’s win it or bin it. It’s a real pity because he has enormous talent.
Those “many racers” you’ve seen come up through the ranks are absolutely irrelevant. What they learned, what they think, is equally irrelevant. Their lessons, their accrued knowledge, their everything, none of it matters.
This is Marc Marquez we’re talking about here. He’s an eight-times world champion, including six championships at the very pinnacle of the sport. The only people that bear mentioning when discussing Marc Marquez are names like Rossi, Doohan, Rainey, Roberts, and Agostini.
No one other than a certain #46 is going to tell Marc Marquez how to win championships. This includes Ricky Carmichael. This also includes literally every single employee at HRC, or Honda Corporation, for that matter, none of whom are as phenomenally good at their jobs as Marc is at his.
#93 exists in a different world than nearly everyone else. He is an all-time great, even among the all-time greats. To compare other riders to him is to compare your local piano teacher to Mozart.
A squid?
Just stop.
Marc is singularly successful precisely because of his fearlessness/recklessness. His mindset is the primary difference between himself and everyone else on the grid. They’re all fast. They all have the courage to twist the throttle to the stop. They’re all capable of incredible lap times, and race victories.
What most of them are not, however, is a born killer, at least not at the level that Marc is a born killer. If you attempt to take that aspect away from him, if you attempt to pound some sense into him, to neuter him, Marc Marquez becomes Pol Espargaro, or maybe Joan Mir. He does not remain Marc Marquez.
Honda is keenly aware of this. So is everyone else in the paddock, which is why Marc has always been allowed to get away with what he does on the track. If he were merely some scrub, he would have been drummed out of the world championship many years ago.
Instead, because of what he does, everyone is forced to accept who he is.
When you’re Mozart, you’re allowed to be a dick.
Thanks, Mozart.
Excuse me while I puke.
Have any of you guys ever considered the fact that the world’s greatest motorcyclist either never rode one or is out delivering mail in Switzerland on one or whatever?
Marquez probably couldn’t qualify as a minder at a world trials event. There are plenty of 13 year old kids that would be passing him on both sides at a motocross race.
Some of you guys take this road racing thing way too seriously. It’s a one dimensional event. Get over it. There are a whole lot of three dimensional events that require a lot more skill from the riders. Road racing is simply the most expensive way to go racing. Money is an irrelevant measure. You can be impressed by it if you like. But road race heroes are not God’s.
How do you think Marquez would fare against a 47 year old Graham Jarvis at Erzburg? He’d be lucky to finish half the event. He’s somebody’s petulant kid who has been allowed to basically cheat for a good portion of his career. That doesn’t fly in 3D racing.
And Mozart wasn’t a dick.
My money would be on MM over that silly Toni Boo, or whatever his name is. No skill on a bike at all. But, seriously, MM is very skillful, as in I don’t see many others getting back on two wheels from their elbow, but Mick is speaking truth here. Reminds me of watching, say, Robbie Knievel jumping a group of anythings, knowing 10 guys at the local motocross track would make the same jump with a lurid pancake thrown in for good measure. Perspective. Now I am going to go watch some Toni Bou videos.
Mick, don’t be obtuse. No one is saying he’s the greatest trials rider, or motocrosser. He is damn good at motocross, though, and also at flat track, and I have zero doubt he’d be great at trials too, if he put any serious effort into it.
Maybe if you followed the sport more, you’d know how good he is at motocross and flat track. He’s basically world class at flat track, despite barely doing it even as an occasional hobby.
What he undoubtedly is, however, is among the very best road racers we have ever witnessed. By any measure. This is not debatable. He is heads and shoulders above nearly every other person who ever attempted that sport.
It’s also a helluva lot more impressive to be among the best road racers ever, compared to the best trials rider ever. There are probably a thousand road racers for every trials rider, and that may be a wildly conservative estimate.
Oh, and I never said Mozart was a dick. I only said that he would be allowed to be a dick, because he’s Mozart.
Also, maybe he was a dick. Who knows? Certainly not you. You never met the guy. Never witnessed a signle interraction he had with anyone. For all you know, for all any of us knows, he might have been Mother Teresa, or he might have been the Russian mobster’s spoiled dick of a kid who stole John Wick’s car and killed his dog.
Never go full retard
marquez is no bubba shobert or dick mann.
You can name – Duke, Surtess, Hailwood, Sheene, Roberts, Spencer, Swantz
Saarinen at least.
Or those dutch greats. Wil Hartog, Jack Middelburg and Boet van Dulmen.
Or Eddie Lawson
VLJ typed: “The only people that bear mentioning when discussing Marc Marquez are names like Rossi, Doohan, Rainey, Roberts, and Agostini.”
An interesting comparison but maybe a Freudian slip. This is the 4th consecutive season in which all 6 persons above have had the same effect on motorcycle racing championships: zero.
VLJ typed: “…Marc is singularly successful…” Was, not is; see the sentence above.
VLJ typed: “…When you’re Mozart, you’re allowed to be a dick…”
I’m gonna half to double dare you to type something more stupid and immature than that.
Maybe you deserve credit for mentioning Mother Teresa in a motorcycle forum…but no.
Finally! This drum beat should have been getting hammered by the media for the past 10+ yrs. Maybe you were all afraid of Honda’s wrath? Maybe you were under the Marquez spell? I don’t know. Anyone that’s been paying even the slightest attention and isn’t a Honda fanboy, has known for a very long time that Marquez is a danger to himself and everyone around him.
Honda couldn’t care less about his dangerous riding, so long as he won them the championships. They will continue to not care so long as their bike is a POS that can only be ridden when someone is willing to risk life & limb to go fast on it. Honda is ruthless and has proven so over a very long time. If Rins & Mir were to start winning Honda wouldn’t care about Marquez and would drop him in a heartbeat.