Box Confidential: Marc Marquez as Paul Newman

WHAT I DON’T KNOW: Marc Márquez as Paul Newman.

Those who have seen it will remember it, to those who have not seen it I highly recommend it. What I’m referring to is ‘The Legend of the Indomitable’, the film in which Paul Newman’s stubbornness makes him the idol of his fellow inmates. A character that, saving context, inevitably reminds me of Marc Márquez. Like him, Marc is unaffected by discouragement. Like that one, he might at some point find himself on the ropes, but like that one, it’s fleeting and he always comes out fighting. I’ve read statements about Marc’s low state of mind, about a likely lap for the Portuguese GP in three weeks, but all I can think is that Marc is burning, that he’s eating the asphalt and for him pitbull on a chain. . I may be wrong, but I see Marc Márquez on his bike more next weekend than three; the bet is allowed.

WANTED: The podium from two years ago.

As happened with other calendar events, COVID caused Argentina to disappear from the MotoGP calendars in 2020 and 2021. To refresh my memory a few days ago I saw that year’s GP again and to my surprise -my memory is short- I verified that the podium of that race was Marc Márquez, Valerntino Rossi and Andrea Dovizioso. Of these three, the first two are not on Sunday, and the third seems to be none. I frowned and looked for the winners of 2018 and 2017, Cal Crutchlow and Maverick Viñales; the first was revoked and the second was also lost. And it is in just two years the MotoGP category is a new world, it is immersed in a wild renewal. Names like Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo, Dani Pedrosa or Andrea Dovizioso have given way to Fabio Quartararo, Joan Mir or Pecco Bagnaia today, they are all World Champions, yes, but far from the charisma and attraction of the former. MotoGP doesn’t have the essential idols that every sport needs; to Marc Márquez is not enough.

ONE QUESTION OF THE TIME: Waiting for the best Viñales.

I think there was a widespread sense of frustration with Maverick Viñales ’performance at the start of the championship. We must not forget that the rider from Roses had half last season to adapt to the Aprilia, a bike very different to the Suzuki and Yamaha he rode before. Recycling is expected to be completed in 2022, but so far the results say otherwise. However, the perception within Aprilia is very different. They are sure that the best version of Maverick will come sooner rather than later. This is how Romano Albesiano, the chief engineer responsible for the MotoGP project at the Italian factory, explained to me. “Maverick only needs two things in his way of riding our bike, two, to be fully competitive. Very little is missing. We have a lot of trust in him. At the same time, having his telemetry helped Aleix realize where to improve, something that wasn’t possible when he was our only reference. ”