WHO CAN CATCH MARQUEZ AND HONDA?
As the final day of MotoGP pre-season testing began, Honda was in trouble. The 2020 RC213V had seemingly been born bad. The front end and turning issues of its predecessor – problems much maligned by its riders last season – persisted, and had actually worsened. “Honestly, yesterday and the first day, I was worried about the situation,” reigning world champion Marc Marquez admitted at the close of play in Qatar.
The 2020 season, which had been due to kick off this weekend at the Losail circuit that hosted that final test, looks set to offer Marquez his stiffest opposition, and his preparations have been fraught. Not only was the bike troubled, but he was gritting his teeth through injury. Off-season surgery was required on a partially dislocated shoulder sustained in a heavy crash during Malaysian Grand Prix qualifying last November. Marquez (right) went to the first test at Sepang at“70%” fitness, and the situation didn’t improve much in the fortnight leading up to the Qatar test.
The fact that his likely main rivals – Yamaha riders Maverick Vinales and Fabio Quartararo, and Suzuki duo Alex Rins and Joan Mir – had hit the ground running with their new machines really
