MARQUEZ THE GREAT?
Disregard any significance Marc Marquez’s career holds up to this point. The true depth of his talent and determination will only now be revealed to us.
Sure, his dominance up to this point has been incredible to watch. He has shat on every opponent unlucky enough to race against him and single-handedly debunked the theory of gravity. I contend that supernatural forces have been helping Marquez all this time. Saving all those crashes is just not human.
DIVINE INTERVENTION?
But that was when the universe was still on his side. Is it still? For many years he carried favour with the racing God’s, and they looked after him accordingly. However, not even the God’s can defy the laws of duality and balance. Had they given him too much divine racing juice? Were they duly directed from an even higher deity to bitch slap his arse back to Earth? This they did at Jerez in the July of 2020.
But has the ledger been balanced, or has Marquez used up his supernatural go-fast juice? The God’s must be frugal. After all, it must be shared with later generations.
There might only be a finite amount of this juice to go around, and I think a certain Master Pedro Acosta just may be sucking at the teat of the Golden Cow now.
DOES THE PAST GIVE US A CLUE?
So where does this leave Marquez then? Can he return from injury and dominate once again? Maybe, maybe not. For some guidance, let us examine the cases of the two previous dominators; Michael Doohan and Valentino Rossi.
Both of these gentlemen suffered severe injuries in more or less the middle of their careers. Doohan nearly lost his right leg after a crash at Assen in 1992, during which he broke his tibia and fibula. This was his fourth year of eleven in the top class, but he went on to win his five consecutive championships after the crash. Perhaps the God’s had decided they were being a bit harsh on Mick and finally gave him his dues after he had paid the hefty entry price to success.
We have witnessed the opposite with Valentino. He won all of his seven MotoGP titles before the crash in 2010 that saw him break his, you guessed it, right tibia. It was his eleventh year of twenty-one (and counting). He was never the same after the crash and has thus far failed to win another title. Universe giveth, universe taketh away.
EACH WAY BET
Two different outcomes, then. On which side will Marquez fall? I can’t give you an answer to that one, for if I could, I would be lying on a tropical island beach somewhere polishing my crystal ball. I’m just trying to read the galactic tea leaves here.
Interestingly, Doohan rode for eleven years in the top class, Rossi’s crash was in his eleventh year, and Marquez is making his comeback eleven years after Rossi’s crash. You telling me the universe has no hand in such matters?
One thing I can confidently assert is that what happens next will define Marquez. If he never returns to his previous dominant self, we will remember him as one of the greatest racers of all time. If he does return to his dominant self and wins more championships, we will remember him as the greatest EVER. No pressure, then.
Now, where did I put that crystal ball?
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