Not formally announced yet, but I heard it from a source (Paddock Pass Podcast) that usually waits 'til the dust has settled before saying anything. Marini seems smart, and like a good development rider since he's known to be very good at explaining technical details, and is probably a notch above the average rider in terms of "try this and then tell us what it did and how you felt about it."
It's a little weird as a move from the VR46 fold, but it seems like an ambivalent situation; it's both a great support system but also he'll always be in his brother's shadow. This is a big challenge, but an opportunity to Do Something.
To be clear, I think Marquez is likely better at riding a motorcycle than anybody we've ever seen, and I think his love for the sport is genuine. But his disdain for anybody else's existence makes it hard for me to root for his team. In an odd twist, I think his move to Gresini actually clears the way for me to root for Honda a bit. I like Marini, and I like Zarco, who'll be on the factory-Honda-in-LCR-colors. I haven't liked the way Honda historically acted like the riders didn't matter and it was about Honda's greatness, but they've been getting outside consulting, and they're going to have to change how they do things. If you mix some humble pie into what is at its core a remarkable organization, it could be neat.
And as long as I'm chucking out random MotoGP conversation fodder, I sure hope Yamaha gets it together, too. And I miss Suzuki.
Do you really think that Marquez is at present better than, say, Rossi 12ish years ago?
In reply to brandonsmash :
Mr Ransom said riding a motorcycle, not racecraft. The Doctor was a surgeon
I'll always be a much bigger Rossi fan than Marquez. I think, as TRoglodyte alludes to, Rossi was amazing at racecraft. And psychology. And style. I think he had *amazing* feel based on the ways he'd get past people. He seemed to be able to will extra grip into the tires.
He was as dominant then as Marquez has been, but I think the whole game has been raised. Watching Marquez do whole corner entries on the front wheel, hearing about how his data looks like he's effectively crashed three times a lap...
But of course we can never really know. They were never at their peaks near the same time. I can only go so far down the rabbit hole of "Rossi mostly succeeded against Lorenzo and Dovizioso and those two were able to give Marquez some grief."
You can't not wonder, but I'd rather follow what's going on now.
It's also an issue of how to compare (and I hate to say this) different eras. Can you say that Marquez is objectively a better rider than Rossi? Was Rossi better than, say, Wayne Rainey? Is Hamilton better than Senna was? Given the evolution of tracks and technology, it's going to be difficult or impossible to draw a direct comparison.
That being said, what you mention about Rossi being able to will extra grip into the tires is absolutely true. Remember that absolutely insane pass he did in the dirt through the corkscrew at Laguna Seca? That still blows my mind.
I feel like I have boiled racecraft down to 4 key tenets in no particular order:
Speed
Sportsmanship
Setup/reliablity (more of the team's responsibility at this level)
Consistency
So whoever maximizes all of those has the best racecraft. I've noticed that people who only have speed tend to become arrogant.
In reply to GCrites :
Interesting... I agree that all those are super important, i always think of racecraft as the in-race stuff; tire management, knowing when to make a pass, when to watch your opponent... All the stuff that gets a rider a win over someone on an equal or better bike. I have no idea whether there's an "accepted" meaning of the term.
I've only just seen a few fragments of the Valencia test on IG this morning. References to Marquez as P1 first outing on the Ducati, but it's a test day, so it's kinda silly to call anybody P1, but it's certainly not bad news for him.
Really looking forward to hearing how the Yamahas and Hondas are showing up at the test. And the Aprilias!
