The first triptych of the season began to paint a panorama that becomes more refined race after race. Marc Márquez and Maverick Vinales seem above the rest and Valentino Rossi hopes that the two will focus on each other to come out on top. This is also what he has just done at Austin by seizing command of the world championship, even if, and he is the first to say it, his position is still very precarious.
After total domination since the start of winter testing, Maverick Vinales, obsessed with Marc Márquez, has just made his first mistake by trying to follow him, and paid a high price.
On the other side, Marc Márquez returned to the race after his victory on his American lands.
Wayne Rainey, who is not the first to come, shared his analysis on the site Trademarks, in which, among other things, he warns the Honda driver against focusing on his Spanish rival
Marc Márquez won last year, without having the best bike. Can he do it again?
Wayne Rainey: “This is where Marc Márquez must be very intelligent. You need to know that you won't have the best bike every year. Right now it looks like Yamaha has an advantage. Marc must finish the races. He must not let Viñales be in his head. If he has it in his head, he's finished. You can't get out of this situation. You have to do your best and what has to happen, happens. If the other guy wins and takes all the glory for himself. You say: “I did the best I could, I will try in the next race”. This is difficult to do. Especially when you are young, you want to show the world that you are the best. But this is the highest level. So you don't want that, but you have to want it. »
- Did Jorge Lorenzo make the wrong decision by going to Ducati?
- " I don't know. In his mind, Jorge thought, “I am the best and I want to prove it. »And he went to Ducati. I don't know if he still thinks he's the best. I'm sure he thinks he still has room for improvement. He needs to improve his style. Ducati must also help him. They are together. They must understand that Lorenzo is very good and the Ducati must be ridden in a very aggressive way. They must know this. »
- Being world champion this year with the Ducati, isn't that mission impossible?
- “I'm sure every time he gets on the bike he thinks that this time he's going to feel good. I hope so. For now, he is far away. I'm surprised how far away it is. There are even times when it is the last Ducati. »
Could this be the year of Valentino Rossi's tenth title?
“He understands that he just has to be there in the race. He brings a lot here. He has a lot of experience, over 20 years. He understands that training on Friday or the official session on Saturday is not the same as Sunday. Sunday is the day that everyone remembers. He came to Austin for Sunday, not Friday or Saturday. He came for the race. At a certain age, that's all that matters to you. I can understand it because towards the end of my career I remember in the last year I was racing I wasn't obsessed if I wasn't the fastest driver. I told myself that Top 5 was good. But on Sunday, we had to give everything. »
