I am certain that many expected Marc Marquez to be in the hunt for the MotoGP title once again this year, but I am not so certain that many expected him to be running away with it as he currently is. The 21-year-old Spaniard has won every single race this year, and has been on pole in seven out of the nine races so far. Although team mate Dani Pedrosa, and the factory Yamahas of Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi have come close, nobody seems able to beat young Marquez, who somehow has found extra speed from last year.
Marc Marquez decimating the field
With a perfect score at the moment, it’s more a case of when, rather than if Marc Marquez wins the title. Unless he suffers an injury, and he has already had a few offs this year; it is probable that the reigning champion will make it back-to-back titles. The Honda does seem to be the better bike on a lot of circuits, but the fact that Pedrosa is only just second in the championship shows that it might not be that much better than the factory Yamaha. Marquez was challenged to the very end in both Qatar and at Catalunya, but managed to hold on. His wobble whilst showboating at COTA and his offs in qualifying for Catalunya and in practice at Sachsenring are his only real mistakes so far this season. He also seems to still struggle with race starts, though that is sometimes due to using a harder tyre, but the way he has been carving through the field has been absolutely astounding thus far.
Dani Pedrosa must up his game
The second Honda, with Dani Pedrosa at the handles, has just one pole position and seven podiums to the other Honda’s seven poles and nine wins. There have been times where Pedrosa has given Marquez a good run for his money, but the younger Spaniard seems to come out on top. Three second places (to Marquez) are his best results of the year. There have been times as well this year, such as France and in Holland where he was beaten by riders on arguably inferior machinery, but his form has seemed to come back to him in recent races. He really should have won at Catalunya, with Marquez admitting that Pedrosa was quicker on the day, but he dropped back after hitting his team mate.
Rossi back to his best
Motorcycle racing legend Valentino Rossi has struggled in the last few years. After failing to turn Ducati into a winning team and struggling to beat team mate Jorge Lorenzo on a number of occasions last year, ‘The Doctor’ parted ways with his long-lasting crew chief Jeremy Burgess. The returns however were almost instant, as he duelled with Marc Marquez in the lights at Qatar, narrowly missing out on victory. While Lorenzo has made a lot of errors, Rossi has been getting the job done on a number of occasions and currently sits third in the table, albeit a long way behind Marquez. His qualifying has still been highly patchy, but the rider, who has now participated in over 300 Grand Prix, still very much has it.
Jorge Lorenzo having bad patch
Compared to last year, which saw Jorge Lorenzo nearly snatch the title from Marquez, this season has been a complete disaster. He made an error and crashed in the first race, jumped the start in the second, and has had some serious off days, where he has been outshone by Rossi. There have been some days where we saw flashes of Lorenzo of 2013, like in Italy and again in Argentina, but to come back now would be an almost impossible task. He has just three podiums, whereas Rossi has five, and even lays behind a Ducati in the standings.
Andrea Dovizioso shining for Ducati
Ducati is a team that nobody can seem to drag a result for. The bike seems to handle very badly and in the hands of Cal Crutchlow, has been unreliable too. Despite this, the Italian Andrea Dovizioso finds himself fourth in the championship ahead of Jorge Lorenzo, taking two very well deserved podiums. He has also been the highest-placed Ducati in all bar two races, and Andrea Iannone, Yonny Hernandez and Crutchlow are more than capable riders. If anybody is going to win a race on that bike, it’s bound to be Dovizioso.
Aleix Espargaro best of the rest
Despite a shaky start to the season, the older of the two Espargaro brothers (commonly referred to as the Espargabros) has resumed his duty as being the best of the open-class riders. He is yet to achieve a podium finish, but took a very strong pole position in Holland, and so far is the only rider not on a Honda to achieve one. It is highly unlikely that Espargaro will miss out on being the highest open-class rider, but I am sure that his main rival is his brother, who is the top rookie currently by some margin.
Heading into the summer break, Marc Marquez has a remarkable 77 point lead over Pedrosa. That margin is so big, that the 21-year-old could stay at home for the next three races, and would still be leading the standings. He doesn’t even need to win any more this season and still clinch the title before the last race of the season. It is highly unlikely that anybody can stop him this year barring exceptional circumstances. We are almost looking at a complete whitewash in this category. The scary thing is – Marquez has a younger brother, Alex, racing in Moto 3.
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