15 years later, Vinales and Marquez still face to face

Since the races contested with 11-horse Metrakit in 2002, the paths of Marc Marquez and Maverick Vinales have often crossed on the circuits. “ At the time, after the events we all got together and played football, or with our bikes and skateboards » remembers Marc. In 2015, they found themselves again on the same grid, this time in MotoGP. This year they are two of the main favorites for the title.

At the time, neither of them planned to climb the ladder, being more concerned about their immediate future. “ When I was a kid, I just had fun, » remembers Marquez. “ At 11 or 12 years old, I thought I would really like to ride 125, so I wanted to get into 125 Grands Prix. But honestly, when I got to the World Championship, I didn't think about MotoGP . I wanted to be a top rider in 125. Then in 2010, when I turned 17, I fought for the 125 title and started thinking about MotoGP. I wanted to reach this championship with the best drivers ". Vinales's perspective was not fundamentally different: “Let's say I started to think that I could be in MotoGP when I won my third race in GP 125. That's when I started to say, okay, I can. TO DO ».

After so many years in the same paddocks, the two Spaniards know each other well. So for Marquez, “ Maverick has a good mentality because he is calm, but on the track he is aggressive and he always attacks. He was already very, very fast on the Suzuki and now he is even faster on the Yamaha. He's fast, consistent and handles pressure well, so he's ready to fight for the title ».

Especially since Vinales has two important assets when arriving at Yamaha: the possibility of consulting the recorded data of Valentino Rossi, and the enormous experience of Ramon Forcada, former technical manager of Jorge Lorenzo's M1 and now of that of Maverick . “ Looking at Valentino's data, the only thing I can do is improve. For example, for some corner exits, it uses the rear brake to calm things down and opens the throttle a little later. Valentino is really good at acceleration, especially since the arrival of the unique software.

“The Suzuki and Yamaha are a bit similar, they are friendly bikes, but I have to change my riding style a bit. Sometimes I'm too aggressive and I slide the bike, which doesn't work with the Yamaha. I also sometimes brake too aggressively, so I try to figure out where to brake so I can still turn the bike well and use cornering speed. The Yamaha's traction is really consistent throughout the corners, so you can work a lot on entry and passing speed. Ramon has a lot of experience. He teaches me how to use the M100 1% ».

Even though he has only been in MotoGP for two years, Vinales has largely mastered the strategies. Thus he explains that “ Last year, I never attacked from the first lap with the Michelins, never. I also tried to get really good information from Michelin, so if a rider had crashed on a certain compound then I didn't use it because I knew it could be difficult. Sometimes maybe you can go faster on a hard tire, but maybe you don't finish the lap. So we did our job to figure out what was best ».

We are looking forward to the confrontation between the two Spaniards… and Maverick too: “ I think it will be a great battle. We ride differently. It seems like I have all the control over the bike, whereas Marc is a very aggressive rider, but when I have to be aggressive, I am. I am not afraid. Honestly if I need to overtake and I touch the other driver a little bit… you know, that’s racing. I remember fighting with Aleix [Espargaro] last year: during one race we touched each other maybe six or seven times, then at the end of the race we got off our bikes and we smiled. I overtake aggressively, so I expect others to do the same to me. »

That’s good, Marc Marquez is also ready for the confrontation: “ Right now I feel less pressure than last year. I feel more motivated, but I feel less pressure and the target is the same. Last year the pressure was very high because I lost the 2015 championship due to my own mistakes. So the pressure was really there because I couldn't lose anymore, for me, for the sponsors and for Honda ". All that remains is to refine the development of the RC213V and its new big bang engine: “ The new engine gives better traction at certain points. But that changes everything with electronics, so we still have a lot of work to do ».

15 years later, which of the two will gain the upper hand over the other?

Photos © Repsol media and Suzuki

Source: Motor Sport Magazine