 |
Being physically and mentally
prepared for any new task in life is always important, especially when that
task is racing a Grand Prix motorcycle around at dizzying speeds. Motorcycle
racing has grown up a lot since the times of post-race conference beers and
deathly 500s. Now to be at the top a rider has to be at the peak of not just
bike riding ability but also physical fitness and mental strength. Some say
this has made Grand Prix racing too serious taken out a lot of the bad-boy
rebel attitude it once had. Regardless of the truth behind the statement, the
maturing of GPs has lead to some devilishly fast and competitive rookies.
Riders such as Jorge Lorenzo, Dani Pedrosa and especially Marc Marquez have
been highly competitive from the word go.
Things have not always been so easy
for rookies on factory machine however. Mick Doohan’s first season in GPs was
less than stellar. A 3rd in Germany was the highlight of a season
filled with injuries and teething problems with his NSR. The 500s were
obviously a beast for anyone to learn but Doohan also had to contend with off
track distractions. Europe offered all riders a plethora of distractions off
the track, especially to a rookie such as Doohan with little experience outside
of his native Australia. It has been widely noted that Doohan spent perhaps too
much of his rookie season ‘distracted’ and that it detracted somewhat from his
performance. The late 80s was also the cusp of the fitness craze that has now
enveloped GPs. Riders were fit, but not top athlete fit and this too meant that
rookie seasons were spent adjusting physically to the new demands.
Unlike Doohan, Valentino Rossi took
a far more conventional route up to GPs, competing in 125cc and 250cc prior.
However, this didn’t mean that he had an easy rookie season. A double DNF
greeted Rossi when he achieved his dream of racing a 500cc Honda. Rossi’s
season would eventually turn around into a near title-winning season. But why
didn’t he win the title? He knew the tracks, he was quick and he was physically
strong. But Rossi, as noted by himself, didn’t believe he could win the title
in that first half of the season and this mental doubt cost him. Rossi, like
Doohan before him, overcame this initially tough season to dominate for
multiple seasons.
Marquez has the advantage of being
in a GP environment where peak physical fitness is a must for top riders. He
has also grown up watching Rossi play mind games with everyone from Biaggi to
Stoner and carefully studied how important mental strength is. Marquez has been
prepared and groomed for this since he was in mini-moto, eliminating rookies’s
greatest weakness: their own mind. Marquez has no outlandish parties to
distract him, no self-doubt; he is a machine who is full of self-belief and
confidence. But there is only so much the likes of Alzamora can do, in the end
the belief and confidence comes from within Marc.
Having stormed to his third victory
of the season while Pedrosa and Lorenzo struggled with injuries, Marquez has
cemented himself as not only a title contender but also a title favourite. The
natural talent of 20-year-old Spaniard is un-doubtable, but a thought must be
given to how each generation has been
able to learn from the mistakes of the last.
