MotoGP: Marc Márquez and the curse of the finish in the last corner

Commenting on his defeat in Austria against Dovizioso in the last corner of the final lap of the Red Bull Ring, Marc Márquez declared that no one would remember this game at the end of this season, once he has claimed his sixth MotoGP crown . Perhaps, but with the further lowering of the flag observed at the British Grand Prix which followed at Silverstone, against Álex Rins, the question arises of a curse for the Honda official. Which we will remember since out of the 15 confrontations in this genre, the Spaniard was defeated in 73,33% of cases…

Marc Márquez is the one who writes history in MotoGP, he collects so many exploits every time he puts his Honda on the track. Whether it's the lean angle or the number of pole positions, he is the man for the job. Certainly, but the Honda official is not invincible. You just have to bide your time. And prick him to the quick in a final turn of a final lap to make it his business...

Summarized like this, everything seems easy. Which is obviously not. However, there are the facts: Márquez has already fought fifteen times for victory in the last round. Of the fifteen confrontations, he only won four. In three-quarters of the cases, he suffered defeat. A rate of 73,33%.

So, against Andrea Dovizioso, he lost five times to one victory. It was 2018 in Thailand. Otherwise, In Austria in 2017 and 2019, in Qatar in 2018 and 2019, as well as in Japan in 2017, Dovizioso was the best in the ring. A few weeks ago in Spielberg, Dovizioso also managed for the first time to defeat Márquez during the last all from the attacking position. Previously, he had always “only” successfully defended himself.

Facing Lorenzo, the score is 3 to 2 in favor of the Majorcan. He beat Márquez at Spielberg in a skillful maneuver in 2018, in 2016 at Mugello he blew the victory away from the Honda in the last meters and, in 2013, he dominated Márquez at Silverstone in the penultimate corner. Lorenzo surrendered on two occasions against the man who is now his teammate at Honda: in 2014, at Mugello, in 2015, at Phillip Island.

Marc Marquez vs Valentino Rossi, it's the most emotional MotoGP duel in recent years. The Sepang incident in 2015 is still remembered. However, the first frictions occurred a few months earlier, when Rossi and Marquez rubbed shoulders in Argentina. But it is only Assen where a final decision for success was made. Red glimpsed the finish line as leader, but Márquez tried to slow down inside. He hit the Yamaha number 46, which sped straight into the gravel loophole to cross the finish line first.

Marc Márquez also had to deal with Danilo Petrucci and in this case, it's a parity score: 1-1…In the pouring rain of Misano, Petrucci, two years ago, glimpsed his first success in MotoGP. He led the race until the last lap, but Márquez overtook him in the last corner before racing towards victory. Petrucci waited until Mugello in 2019 to get his revenge.

We end with the latest event, that of the British Grand Prix with a Alex Rins radiant. In this case, Marc Marquez is led by the official Suzuki with a score of 1 to 0. A deservedly rewarded tactical masterpiece. On the final lap, he used his GSX-RR's better traction to carve a tighter line into the final corner of the race, catching Márquez before sticking to him for only 0,013 seconds in the final meters.

So much for these feats of arms which, however, take nothing away from the merit and talent of a Marc Márquez who whips his Honda like no one would probably be able to do. And then it’s him who is more than ever the boss this season…