MotoGP
Our panel of experts gives their opinion on the MotoGP World Champ’s qualifying lap in Austin.
Putting together a pole position-worthy qualifying lap isn’t an easy ask, even when everything’s in your favour.
When conditions, other riders, technical issues and any number of other variables come into play, keeping your cool to go fastest is a monumental task.
Bearing all that in mind, at the Red Bull Grand Prix of Americas earlier this month, MotoGP World Champion Marc Márquez put in the qualifying lap of all qualifying laps. A problem on his first bike meant the Spaniard was forced to pull up on the straight, catapult himself over pit wall, sprint down pit lane to his second machine and head out with just a few minutes of the session remaining.
As Márquez wrestled the bike around the Circuit of the Americas, it looked like he was close to crashing on more than one occasion, and the likelihood of even a front-row start seemed remote. When he came past the chequered flag shortly after, a new lap record was set and onlookers were left marvelling at the perma-smiling Spaniard’s ability to defy the odds.
Last week, Motor Sport Magazine asked the question on Twitter “Was Marc Márquez’s Circuit of the Americas pole lap the greatest ever?” so we’ve assembled a crack panel of expert MotoGP observers to provide us with an answer.
David Miller – Editorial Director, Bikesport News
Márquez made the best riders in the world look normal
In 2002, I was privileged to watch Steve Hislop lap Donington Park a tenth faster on his British Superbike-spec MonsterMob Ducati than Valentino Rossi could on a million-dollar factory Honda RC211V. From that day to just over a week ago, it was the best lap I had ever seen.
Using his second bike on the wrong front tyre after a sprint up pit lane, Márquez’s ability to ride on and over the ragged edge, make and recover from errors that should have resulted in at least two trips into the scenery made the rest of the best riders in the world look normal.
It was, and will remain, something special to behold.
Follow Bikesport News on Twitter @bikesportnews
Alex Hofmann – German Eurosport MotoGP TV Presenter, former rider and KTM MotoGP Test Rider
It all seemed so natural
I wouldn’t say it’s the best lap I have ever seen on a motorcycle because, for me, the best laps always happen in races when people go one-on-one. But for sure it’s been one of the most impressive qualifying laps I’ve ever seen, taking into account the amount of time Marc had to get things done.
For him it all seemed so natural, getting the right thing done at the right time. Jumping over the pit wall, getting his heart rate up to 200bpm plus! Jumping on his number two bike and not really knowing what tyres were on it. The bike wouldn’t have been setup exactly the way he would have liked it, but he just pulled it off.
How he handled that fast lap was so impressive
I think getting a chaotic lap together is something that happens once in a while, where you take so many risks and things fall on your side and work out. The amount of things that happened in those last four minutes of qualifying for him, and how he handled that fast lap, was so impressive. He was overtaking people, there were a couple of braking moments he was literally out of control, where he didn’t really have the right line.
It wasn’t the perfect lap, there was just an immense will there and he wanted it so bad. It’s something that you don’t see a lot.
Follow Alex on Twitter @Alex_66
David Emmett – Editor, MotoMatters.com
I thought he’d blown it
The one thing that Marc Márquez's pole lap at Austin proved is that great motorcycle racers thrive on pressure. When adversity strikes, it redoubles their determination and focuses their minds to a keen pinpoint. In a way, it can feel like a relief: when all appears to be lost, you have nothing left to lose by risking everything.
Was this the best lap I have ever seen on a motorcycle? Hard to say, but it's right up there with some of the others that stand out in memory. Valentino Rossi at Phillip Island in 2003, after he had been given a 10-second penalty. Ben Spies in the AMA at Road Atlanta after being forced to start from the back of the grid. Marc Márquez himself in Moto2, at Motegi or Valencia – take your pick!
The bike was shaking, bucking, but it was merely Márquez bending it to his will
The lap showed Márquez's presence of mind. After a long sprint back to his garage, he leapt on the spare bike, took half a lap to calm himself, then hung it all out on his pole lap. Watching, I thought he had blown it, losing too much time with too many mistakes. The bike was shaking, bucking, but it was merely Márquez bending it to his will. Motorcycle racing is mostly a mental game, and that lap came as much from Márquez's mind and will as from his talent. One for the ages.
Follow MotoMatters.com on Twitter @motomatters
Matt Dunn – Co-Editor, Paddock Chatter
That lap was a statement from Márquez to the motorcycling world
To clinch pole position in MotoGP is a herculean task at the best of times. To sprint 100 plus metres at full pelt in all the safety gear to collect a spare bike, and then to keep calm, collected, focused and, most importantly, to stay hungry for that number one spot and not only clinch pole position but to annihilate the lap record in the process should be an impossible task. Márquez made it possible.
That lap was a statement from Márquez to the motorcycling world; it doesn’t matter what obstacles are in his way and no amount of pressure will phase him; he can and will be the fastest rider out there. For those reasons, that was the most impressive motorcycle lap I have ever seen.
Follow Paddock Chatter on Twitter @PaddockChatter
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