Last Sunday, the gods mourned the absence of their prodigal son at the Misano circuit.
Tears present enough to transform the parking lots into swamps, to the great dismay of the 3000 people making up the paddock.
Tears slippery enough to bring down 23 riders in Moto3, 23 also in Moto2, and 9 in MotoGP (see here).
And tears abundant enough to fill the stands and hills even though all the tickets were sold in advance.
The organizers have indeed announced to us that there were as many places sold as last year (see here), this did not prevent the crowd from not responding massively to the meeting on the Italian Riviera. Many fans therefore preferred to lose their place rather than go to the circuit to see a show without the local child.
So, in the evening, the street facing the main entrance to the circuit remained desperately empty despite its multitude of stalls selling everything imaginable, as long as it was bright yellow.
So, in the morning, the long snake of the same color which climbs the hill leading to the circuit every year was hungry to say the least.
And so, during the day, there are no more foghorns and shouts when the Dorna camera shows the slightest image of the number 46 box...
Well, let's talk about the spectators present and their cries: the only moments where they manifested themselves, negatively, was when Marc Márquez fell and got on the podium...
Applause and whistles as stupid as they are indecent, unanimously condemned by the person himself, the other drivers and even the Valentino Rossi fan club (see here). Nobody likes to see that, and we deduce that only the Doctor's ultras were present on the circuit that day. The Italian has a stubborn grudge…
So yes, certainly, this edition of the San Marino Grand Prix undoubtedly lacked a little soul, certainly for the worshipers of the sun and the moon.
Because for others, there were still moments of anthology, capable of satisfying the passion that drives us.
In very similar situations, seeing the differences in attitude between Tom Lüthi who played it safe, and Marc Marquez who took all the risks to get the last possible points, can only inspire the greatest respect for the latter. , who also plays for the world title.
Just as we can only have the greatest respect for Johann Zarco, literally asphyxiated after pushing his M1 to score a single small point.
There were some admirable champions this weekend in Misano, some in the spotlight, others less so. Only one was missing, occasionally.
We have in fact simply had a foretaste of his definitive absence, whether this occurs in 2019, 2020 or 2021.
It must be admitted, Misano without Rossi is not really Misano. But, despite the rain, it was still a beautiful Grand Prix…
