Marc Marquez says he wants to be remembered for the skills he displays as he puts on a ‘show’ for the MotoGP audience after a number of final lap battles in 2019, including last time out in Thailand.
Ahead of this weekend’s Japan MotoGP at Motegi – Honda’s home race – Marquez was responding to questions about the way he frames his race and can leave it until the last moment to make his attack.
This was no more apparent than in Thailand when he passed Fabio Quartararo on the final lap having trailed him from the start, before rebuffing another lunge for the lead on the last corner and completing the win.
Gallingly for Quartararo – who is yet to win a MotoGP race - a similar set of circumstances defeated him in Misano two rounds earlier when Marquez passed on the final lap.
It hasn’t always worked out for Marquez though, such as in Austria against Andrea Dovizioso and Alex Rins at Silverstone, he takes pride in his racecraft
He says the late attacks aren’t a coincidence as he wants to be remembered for the ‘show’ he puts on by leaving until the final moments – like Randy Mamola
“During your career you can win more or less and better or worse, but in the end sometimes people, for example, remember Mamola more than other riders. Why? Because in the end it is the show on the track,” Marquez said. “To try to always to do something different and to try to push.
“Of course, that’s why I pushed this in qualifying [when he crashed] and on the last lap. This is my mentality, my ambition and of course this ambition makes me win some championships like 2013 and maybe 2016 but of course this ambition makes me lose some championships like 2015.”
“It is something that is part of my character, I try to control, my team try to control and try to give some good advice to me but in the end it is how I would like to be remembered,” he added.
Eight ball celebrations mostly confuse fans
If Marquez is the king of ‘show’ on track, his celebrations in Thailand drew more of a mixed response from fans.
After grabbing a large ‘eight-ball’ to signal his eighth grand prix world title, Marquez took to a podium containing a pool table where he sunk the black and resumed celebration. It made sense and didn’t make sense in equal measures.
It came a week after Jonathan Rea donned a suit jacket over his leathers in response to him successfully defending his crown for a fifth WorldSBK Championship title. It seemed to be a continuation of his ‘four of a kind’ casino-style celebration a year earlier but given Rea wasn’t expected to wrap things up in France, it looked a touch under-rehearsed!
Post-race celebrations today – beyond the regular fluttering flags and bowing in front of fans now – aren’t as pomp and bizarre as they were once upon a time. Valentino Rossi was considered the master of the post-race celebration whether he was visiting a trackside portaloo, donning a Doctor’s uniform or wearing Donkey ears on the podium. No matter what he did, fans lapped it up
Jorge Lorenzo attempted to imitate these on occasions during the height of the inter-Yamaha rivalry with Rossi and famously threw himself into the lake at Jerez in 2010 in celebration… only to realise he might find it rather difficult to get out in leathers and helmet.
