If you haven’t seen it, look for the pictures: the end of the French GP race was apotheoic, heart-wrenching, one of those breath-taking movie endings, and it ended taking away for strength and conviction a Jorge Martín who smells like a champion this year.
The Pramac Ducati rider from Madrid prevailed in Sunday’s race at Le Mans over his two best rivals, the two-time champion Pecco Bagnaia, who came out the worst of the three-way clash after leading from the 20th out of 27 laps , and the multiple champion Marc Márquez, who offered another masterful comeback, from 13th to 2nd, as he already did on Saturday, with a final wild advance, trademark of the house, on the Italian.
But especially the French GP, with Martín’s double and Márquez’s double second place with two more beastly comebacks each, have drawn the most desired panorama of the MotoGP World Cup: a three-way showdown for the crown between the strongest riders. A battle that will see the next Grand Prix, that of Catalonia, from May 24 to 26 in Montmeló in the front row.
The passage through France, fifth of the 21 dates on the calendar, has left a couple of certainties: that Jorge Martín is very strong, consistent in driving and race management, convinced that this year can be his, and that Marc Márquez, as he already aimed for Jerez, he is back to stay there, having recovered his style and boldness, his confidence and constancy, and with three second places in a row he is already third in the championship, 40 points behind the leader and 38 behind bathed Two weekends ago, after crashing in Austin, Marc was 8th, 44 points behind Martín and 14 behind Pecco.
Cervera’s intention can be guessed in the malice of the smile and in every out-of-date celebration. Their happiness radiates their potential. “I was able to fight with the two Ducati roosters, which is the most important thing. But to fight for a World Cup you have to nail what Martín and Pecco are doing, you have to be there on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. At the moment, of the three, I’m the one with the most ups and downs, due to lack of knowledge of the bike or lack of speed”, admits the 93-year-old.
But, for sure, of the three rivals – because they will be the three who will play for the title -, Márquez is the most feared, for being daring, for being experienced, for being magical… For being a phenomenon. This is the only way to understand his double comeback two days in a row, from 13th to 2nd, and this is the only way to understand how it was played with six corners to comb Bagnaia, one of the best brakes.
“It was another very good comeback”, Márquez admitted. “I had a good start, not as much as the one on Saturday, but I gained a lot of positions and I was getting ahead of riders”, explained the Catalan, who at the start jumped from 13th to 8th place and took it with more calm to progress. The fall of Acosta (v. 3) and the advancement of Bastianini placed him 6th; then Aleix Espargaró, who was waning, advanced, followed by a rocky Maverick Viñales (v. 14) and Di Giannantonio (v. 19). So with nine turns in front he had the two escapees, Bagnaia and Martín, two seconds behind. Would he catch them?
No one at Le Mans doubted it.
So Márquez came within 4 tenths (v.21/27), Martín, knowing the Catalan’s hidden strokes, opened up the gas and overtook Bagnaia to try to get away from the threat of 93. He succeeded well
Hostilities broke out with three laps to go. Bagnaia attacked Martín, who solidly defended the lead and gained a few meters. Mark waited. “I arrived cold and had to take a lot of risks, so I waited until the last lap.” Then he took out his axe. When he reached the last chicane he escaped on the inside and with a very quick change of direction he consolidated a stratospheric advance and beat the Italian pilot to second place.
“The trick is to fall many times. In that chicane I have fallen 6 or 7 times in my career, but I feel very good in that left bend. He was waiting for Pecco’s attack. When I saw that he wasn’t attacking I said to myself: ‘I attack’. I waited for that corner because I was strong in the braking, and if I failed I had the margin of escape, but it turned out well and I nailed it”, said a laughing Márquez, erected as an animator of the battle for the title.
