Heading into the Austin round of the MotoGP championship, it certainly seemed like Marc Marquez was the favourite to win. Despite Marc himself starting the weekend off in the Thursday press conference by talking down his chances, the numbers were simply stacked in his favour: six previous wins, seven pole positions, and a ridiculous ratio of victories at counter-clockwise tracks in general. Were it not for an electronics issue in 2019, he would have header into this weekend with a perfect track record in Texas, and even without it he would surely have been striking fear into the hearts of his opponents.
Unusually for Marc, there was another aspect playing into his favour: he was not a contender for this year’s championship. Thanks to his injuries, Marc hasn’t really been a factor in the 2021 championship race, and as a result there was no external pressure on him this weekend. The likes of Bagnaia and Quartararo had to ride smart in order to keep their title chances alive; Marc could simply push himself as far as he was willing to go, with little consequences if he failed or crashed out. This scenario has only really occured this year and at the conclusion of 2015 – Marc has won every other season he has competed in barring 2020, which he was largely absent from – so it was fascinating to see how it all played out.
There was a secondary plotline that played out over the course of the weekend. The track condition in Austin was appalling, with a number of riders adamant that the circuit was practically unrideable in the state they found it in upon arrival. After the first day of practice, several riders were considering a boycott of the race before the safety commission meeting on Friday evening. While no-one can confirm or deny exactly what was said in that meeting, or who was on which side of the argument, the story that emerged appears to be that the stewards talked the angry riders out of a boycott, and instead offered an ultimatum to the track owners: resurface the entire first section of the circuit from turn 2 to turn 10, or MotoGP won’t return to Austin in 2022.
This will be an interesting story to follow in the coming months. The track has been criticised for its condition for the past several visits by both the MotoGP and Formula 1 paddocks, but this year it was truly terrifying to wrestle a MotoGP bike around. The issue appears to stem from the geology of the location the track is built on – I’m no expert in the field, but it has something to do with the materials the track has underneath it mixed with the tectonic movements below – so to properly sate the rider’s demands would require them to both resurface the track itself and potentially change the base materials within. If they fail to comply, then we may see riders refusing outright to race in Texas come 2022.
None of this drama stopped Marc. The former champion was practically untouchable all weekend, topping both practice session in day one and securing a front row start alongside the two championship heavyweights. When the lights went out he shot to the front and quickly disappeared, showing pace that no other rider could match, and took his second win of the season and seventh overall at the circuit. It was a fantastic ride, reminiscent of the Marc of old before his injuries last season, and showed that he still has that same fire that many of us remember. Above all else, it was a smart ride, in which he obviously had more in the tank but chose to ride safely and intelligently in order to secure the win.
Bagnaia and Quartararo both joined him on the podium, as their championship duel moves closer to its conclusion. While Bagnaia was able to take his third pole position on the trot, his French rival stole away in the early stages of the race and was able to take perhaps the most important second place of the season. Bagnaia was held up in the early stages in a number of battles, and while third place is an impressive comeback given the circumstances, it will feel like a heavy blow to his aspirations. With the gap between them now sitting at 52 points, Quartararo could conceivably wrap things up in Misano, and if he fails there it simply postpones the celebrations until Portimao. One way or another, it looks like he will be our champion for 2021.
Looking at the stats for the season, you can see where Pecco lost this title, and it was in his bad weeks. Quartararo has taken a wildly impressive ten podiums this season, and on the weekends he failed to make the top three he still managed to rack up some decent points and mitigate the damage done. Arguably the only blot on his copybook this entire season was in Jerez where arm pump robbed him of a sixth win, and he hasn’t really put a foot wrong otherwise. Compare that to Bagnaia, who endured a run of six consecutive rounds without a podium between Le Mans and Styria which included a crash in Mugello, and you can easily understand where the 52 point gap stems from. If Bagnaia had not struggled so much in the middle stages of the championship, if his off days had been better results, then perhaps we would have a closer battle on our hands.
Further back, two riders saw late penalties that demoted them from solid results. Rookie Jorge Martin had yet another blistering race, battling for a podium position for the majority of the race, but a mistake at turn 5 led to him taking a brief shortcut. While Jorge intentionally killed his momentum briefly to reduce any gains he may have gotten from the corner cutting, the stewards still handed him a long lap penalty, which ended his chances at a podium and dropped him back behind Alex Rins in fourth. In my opinion, this may have been an unnecessary penalty given the time he lost coming out of the shortcut, but at least the stewards have been even with their punishments so far this year in this regard.
The other penalty was given to Joan Mir, who has started to get something of a reputation for this. The reigning champion collided with Australian rider Jack Miller on the final lap, running them both wide and allowing Bastianini through, and the stewards deemed it more than a racing incident. People seem to be fairly evenly divided on this one, with some viewers noting that Miller was intentionally slow through that corner as a defensive move while others say the attack from Mir was too aggressive. Both arguments are fair, and I certainly understand why the stewards made the call that they did, but I do hope we see less of this aggressive action from Mir in the final few races of the season.
You can understand his frustration somewhat. The Suzuki won here in 2019 in the hands of Alex Rins, and was the best bike in the grid for most of 2020, but both riders have had middling seasons and haven’t had nearly as much success as they did last season. In a year where four of the six manufacturers have made pretty major steps with their machines, Suzuki have languished behind with a bike that looks pretty much the same as their 2020 model. This has forced Mir to change his style, from the silky smooth overtakes we saw last season to the more aggressive style that has been punished two races in a row now. Hopefully the off season is fruitful for Suzuki as a whole, and we see a return to their previous form by the start of 2022.
With the Texas rodeo behind us, we now shift our sights back to Europe for the remainder of the 2021 season. With three races left and a 52 point margin in hand, Quartararo looks poised to take the title in one of the next two outings, but there is still a whole lot to play for in these final races. Second and third in the championship are still very much up for grabs, and both Bagnaia and Mir will need to continue to perform well if they hope to hang onto their current placements. The manufacturer’s championship and team championship are both also hanging in the balance, and Yamaha and Ducati will both be trying to wrap up both of those in short order. And the rookie of the year title is still very much undecided – Martin has eleven points up on Bastianini as it stands, but the Italian has had some unreal form in the last few races. We’ve also seen eight unique winners so far this season, and with three rounds left to play that number could very easily rise before the championship ends.
We also had our first look at the 2022 calendar recently, and it’s a big one. If it remains unchanged, we will be in for 21 races across four continents next season, including two debut circuits. If that sounds like a lot, it is. This will be a punishing season for riders and teams, as the whole calendar fits into just 35 weeks, and given the consensus amongst journalists appears to be that around 18 races is the most reasonable amount for riders to endure, we can only imagine what this future setup will lead to. For now, we can simply enjoy the conclusion of this fantastic season, and hope it continues to deliver marvels as it wraps up.
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