Marc Márquez Wins German GP

[Hugh Janus]

Marc Márquez returned to the top step at the German GP. (MotoGP/)

Marc Márquez has lived through his year of injury and emerged triumphant, with a win at Germany’s Sachsenring, a circuit where he has won 11 straight events. At the start he came under Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo from the second row, forcing him to lift, and led every lap thereafter. Then came rain.

“When I saw a few drops on lap four or five, I said ‘It’s my race.’ Then at that point I pushed and kept the same race pace as before.”

This is what great champions in all forms of racing do—they instantly make ground while others’ minds are diverted. Years ago a rider said to me, “If you see the ambulance move, you go—while the others stare.”

“Even when it started the second drops,” Márquez said, “I pushed even more, and I said it was time to take a risk.

“Then [began] the second race with Miguel [Oliveira]. He pushed. It was hard, was really hard to keep concentrated.”

Márquez’s comments from earlier in the weekend revealed that although Sachsenring’s ten lefts and three rights favored his uninjured side, he was far from certain of what was possible.

“Before I come in this weekend I say, OK, I will try to fight for the podium. I will try to be close to the top guys,’” Márquez said. “But the victory was low possibility. But I say, ‘If it’s the perfect condition, I will try.’”

When asked if he would bet 10 euros on his winning, he said, “No, I would not bet 10 euros. That’s why I didn’t put on the soft tire [in qualifying; he qualified fifth]. I didn’t have the power to ride for pole, even if it was planned.”

Again, as in previous races this year, qualifying times were very close, and a tenth of a second could set a rider back an entire whole row.

Yet there remained Márquez’s incredible record of wins here—an unbroken string stretching back to 2010.

Against that were ranged the Ducatis and their new turning capabilities—with Johann Zarco on pole and Jack Miller fourth—and the fast-improving Aprilia of Aleix Espargaró along with Oliveira’s KTM and its powerful new grip (which Miller characterized as “incredible”).

Where was previous wonder-worker Quartararo and his strangely fast (because the other three are so slow) Yamaha? He had been quick through practice but lacked confidence in the front. At the start he fell back to sixth but was able to recover to third by the end, finishing 6.77 seconds out of first and behind Oliveira.

Fabio Quartararo finished nearly 7 seconds behind Márquez in third. (MotoGP/)

“We knew that in the second sector at turns six and seven,” Quartararo said, “we would have some problems, and so it was also in the race.”

Márquez and Oliveira were not his focus (with 16 and 54 points respectively, to his own 115), but rather the Ducatis that follow him in the championship, second, third, and fourth.

“I concentrated on finishing the race well, trying if possible to finish in front of the Ducatis.”

Oliveira (KTM) said, “…the key moment of the race was when the rain came down and as we know Marc was able to understand quite quickly the grip level and he made the gap there.

“Then when I got to the second place I tried hard. I put the pressure on him.

“…but I didn’t have the best situation to manage the tire because I used a lot to…get to him.”

Miguel Oliveira pushed hard to close the gap on Márquez, but it was not enough. (MotoGP /)

Márquez was careful to say, “This victory gives me further motivation, but I’m still not the same Marc I was in 2019. It’ll take time and I already know that I’ll struggle in Assen.” The Dutch TT is next weekend—after which comes the summer break until August 8.

He spoke of a half-hour phone call from five-time 500 GP champion Mick Doohan:

“I was just listening, he was speaking everything. He was explaining his situation [when he was badly injured], but he was also like he was explaining my situation.”

Singing my life with his words.

Think what these men have overcome in order to return to their full abilities. Many a rider has, after a major accident, never fully returned. As Richard Gabriel described in his book, No More Heroes, something in the inaccessible part of the mind can become unwilling to again unlock that person’s full abilities. Longtime race watchers saw it happen to Freddie Spencer. After his accident he remained fast, graceful, and experienced—but he was not the trans-human force he had been.

Think of being told your injury requires a second operation. Think of having to consider a persistent infection. That a third operation is needed. We can’t know what Márquez’s interior story has been, but we must respect his strength in coming this far.

Onto something entirely different, which presents itself for our consideration. Recently, some riders have complained that using the holeshot device (which lowers ride height for the start) to enhance acceleration through a whole race creates a danger. During acceleration and the run down a straight, the suspension is in the low (dragster) position, but as the rider brakes, he releases it, allowing the bike to rise to normal ride height. Here’s the problem: At the same time the front is diving under braking force, the rear is rapidly rising from its previous latched-down position, and the two add up to such a rapid forward pitch that when the fork springs finally stop the motion, the remaining momentum can make the back end light or even lift it off the pavement.

A dedicated rebound damper inactivated when the bike achieves normal rear ride height can mitigate this. That rebound damper can be adjusted, slowing the rate of rise back to any desired degree. Even now, it remains spooky to see one of the Ducati riders, preparing to make a practice start, reach up to the fork crown and twist something. Immediately some mysterious force pulls the rear of the bike down to its “dragster” position. And it works—the starts some riders are getting are a tremendous advantage; think of all the times riders have wasted their tires trying to make up ground lost at the start.

If technology—winglets, spoons, fork fairings, variable ride height—makes you nervous, then you’re casting a vote for MotoGP to become a static vintage class while production bikes adopt the self-same advanced features. Mr. Dall’Igna at Ducati and the managers of all the other factory teams now encourage their engineers to propose blue-sky ways to boost performance, using R&D money that would traditionally have been spent on engines (which are for the moment “frozen”).

Why didn’t we see Márquez’s win coming in the form of the usual predictor—long, fast tire evaluation runs in practice? Because he knows his stamina is not yet at 100 percent, and he can’t afford to squander his energy. It’s no different than saving your tires. But the other riders saw his improved level and were not surprised.

You can be sure there was pressure aplenty. Racing costs every factory many millions. Did an HRC big cheese show up at Barcelona to personally evaluate the situation? Possibly. It’s not for nothing that so many riders now have psychological trainers to help them focus on what is possible rather than digesting themselves with performance anxiety. The present competitiveness in MotoGP has been a long time in creation, and now that it’s here it brings fresh problems. (Eat your hearts out, Formula 1.)

Again there are complaints of riders riding qualifying slowly on or near the racing line in hope of picking up a tow. There is no guaranteed employment continuity in this business—its love is strictly conditional. Idling along waiting for a tow has long been the rule in Moto3, and we all know that the tighter the groups of bikes, the more likely it becomes that someone’s small mistake will bring them all down. Will Dorna have to add a system that continuously monitors everyone’s speed and electronically issues “tickets” to violators? I much prefer racing to courtroom drama, and hope a way forward can be found without more petty punishments and penalties.

Onward to Assen.

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