Marc Márquez is, for many, the natural replacement for Casey Stoner. In fact, it was at Repsol Honda when the Australian retired and Marc took his place. It is also because of his way of taking advantage of the motorcycle at times beyond logic and being the only one capable of doing so. There was always the thorn in the side of not seeing them together on the track, but that’s how things are…
Now Stoner, who is more active in recent days due to the presentation of the Ride 6 video game, has shared with his Crash.net colleagues the reason he believes is behind Marc’s performance.
Many might think about the Spaniard’s innate talent or his ability to push himself to the limit and unleash his full potential, but the Australian points directly to an element that in recent years has gained a determining weight in MotoGP races: tires.
According to Stoner, the key to Marc’s superior performance from the second half of the race is in how the Spaniard manages them: “No one seems to understand what they are doing to preserve the tires. They see Marc at one speed, but he plays a different card every week.”
For Casey, how he approaches the first part of the race and the way he rides, trying to force the corner entry less and lifting the bike earlier, puts less stress on the tire at the beginning and begins to sow what he ends up reaping later: “When the grip drops and the electronics come into play more, he still has a better tire percentage than the others. And that’s where he finds something that the others can’t find.”
Stoner compares Márquez to Verstappen for the same reason
Curiously, Stoner, who shares a sponsor with both Marc and Max Verstappen, compared the Dutchman with the Spaniard and vice versa in the ability to manage the tires, which is also so important in F1: “The best drivers at the moment, like Max Verstappen, when they put on new tires after the pit stop they spend several laps before really pushing. This allows them to have much more performance at the end of the stint.”
Thanks to the way of riding brought to MotoGP by Marc, he considers that he is capable of going fast when the rest no longer have enough tires to continue pushing: “He can make the tires last much longer, to the point that when the electronics come into play and the grip level drops, his grip is still higher because he was so gentle with them at the beginning. And I’ve seen him do it race after race.”
To top it off, Stoner does something that is interesting to discover a pattern that he frequently repeats, analyzing how he has managed the races: “If you go back, you can see his patience with the tyres, unless it was a race or a circuit where he felt he had the pace to go and take charge, and in that case he would sort of change his mind and make everyone think they didn’t know what he was doing.”
Maybe Casey has hit on the key. But there is one important thing that should not be overlooked and that is that, despite this tire management, it is not far behind, it is usually on the lookout and strikes when necessary. In that Marc is also different from the rest.
Of course, not everything is perfect about Marc for Stoner. In fact, the Australian, without giving any clues, said that Márquez had a weak point and no one took advantage of it: “In the past he had a weak point that I think no one noticed and about which I am not going to reveal anything, but I am surprised that no one has been able to take advantage of it, simply accepting that he was a difficult rival.” What is Casey referring to?
