Err Fabio is 21. His 1st full factory season he wins championship. He was rookie of yr too. I remember watching MM 125 and 250, Pablo or Jorge were just as exciting. Danny was prob most exciting for me on 125, 250's. Time will tell, i doubt anyone will do a Vale, but another MM is possible, another Stoner. If Yam produce a fast perfect bike and Fabio gels, who knows. MM gelled with that RCV and look what happened. The racing has been great.
Only two, actually. MM WILL retire if, medically, he becomes unable to race. If he continues to race, Honda will give him everything he desires to achieve his aim of being the GOAT. This will reinforce Honda’s aim of wiping out their shame of losing Rossi to Yamaha, who then won the championship, disproving Honda’s claim that it was their bike that made champions. MM will never, in my opinion, race for another manufacturer. Only time will tell if my opinion is correct or becomes a matter of conjecture.
Regardless of the number of titles he may acquire, he will never be the GOAT unless at least one is with another manufacturer. Personally I don't think he will ever win another.
I'll put a wager on the fact that Marquez will never win another title, he'll never win more races than Rossi either. That ship has sailed, his best days are behind him and his sunset years are upon him. He'll win a few races, COTA possibly being one, but that's all. There are too many good, faster riders now, there isn't the alien or aliens as before, but there's enough good riders taking decent points at each race, heck we've had 9 different guys on the podium in 3 races so far, unheard of.
As good as MM is, he is not another Vale. Vale trancendended the sport, MM doesnt. Everyone knows who Vale is/was, despite not knowing the sport at all. Vale had that little bit of extra untangeable quality which made him global. Like Ali did, like Sheene did, like Graham Hill did. Charisma. Marc as nice as he is, isnt as charismatic. Marc would never had popped into a porta-loo on the cool down lap. MM is absolutely one of the fastest Ive ever seen. But Lorenzo on his day with the bike as good as it gets would disappear into the distance. Jorge did it in an unfussed way. But in the same breath, MM could do the same thing. Disappear into the distance. Albeit in ways that would see most mortals visit the kitty litter each and every corner. I dont set much on the term GOAT. Doohan was a goat, Jorge was a goat, vale was a goat, Marc was a goat. Theres a whole fucking herd of goats. Theres a number of billies in the making. Its exciting times for MotoGP. If the Yam had an extra 10mph....
Fabio COULD be the next one, he has been riding the wheels off the Yamaha since day 1. He also looked to have cracked riding in the wet last time out (though that track was supposed to be incredibly grippy even in the rain..), even allowing for different tracks, that will have boosted his confidence in his one weak area. It is not as if Vinales was slow, though he definitely needs to be in the right frame of mind, Fabio made him look second rate. Not another Yamaha on the grid comes close 90% of the time. Morbi, Dovi...not exactly slackers. You can see several other makes just breeze past the Yamaha on the straights. What could he do if the bike was right? What could he do on the Suzuki or Aprilia?... Ultimately though, it is going to be hard for several years for ANYONE to dominate. Such is the quality of the new crop of riders. The bikes are mostly very close too, what some loose on power they narrow the gap on other circuits where outright grunt is less of an advantage.
Just watched him in slo mo at turn 10........ full commitment as usual. Oh and fastest of course......
I know people doubt him, but I still think pound for pound he’s got more talent than anyone else on that grid. Even now. but it goes to show that anyone can be put off their game and that the harmony between rider and machine is very important.
Early days though. I have noticed a lot of day 1 testing is often a lot different to Saturday and final grid positions. Wet too, so if expecting a dry race, why push?
No one doubted he would remain quick, its his fragility and the fact he won't be exerting any dominance any longer.
MM looked amazing last time out. Without the start problem he had every chance of winning imo. “During the weekend you need to accept where you are and if you are tenth you finish tenth. But of course, I will push and take the risk and the target is to try to be on the podium every race.” Doesn't sound to me like MM is about to accept any reduction in performance whatsoever.
Indeed, and thats the problem, historically he was one of maybe 2 or 3 that could win a championship, now its a 6 or 7 horse race.
But very rarely does that happen for any length of time. One rider typically rises above the rest, then their team does the same and another dominating era starts. Currently it remains to be seen whether Marc will resume his place at the top of the heap.
I don't think it is, at least not in the way we would think of it. Otherwise how could Sheene ever have won two world titles after his Daytona crash in '75? Whats constantly on MM's mind is beating everyone else.
