Is the world ready to accept Marc Marquez as the new Valentino Rossi?
Rossi might be the GOAT right now but it won't take long for Marquez to snatch that title away from him.
MotoGP is all about high-speed action, packed with thrill and excitement for spectators everywhere. Once these riders are out there, with speed and ferocity as their only adrenaline, nothing can stop them from galloping away on their majestic machines.
As soon as the green light signals the start of the race, every rider has one goal in mind: to stay ahead of everyone else and finish the race first. And that is what Valentino Rossi has been doing – and doing it pretty amazingly – since he made his debut in the premier class in the year 2000.
The Italian, who is regarded as the Greatest of All Time (GOAT), is a nine-time MotoGP World Champion with one championship win each in 125cc and 250cc races, and seven championship titles in the premier class. Rossi rode the Repsol Honda when he debuted and he won four consecutive titles with it, from 2001 to 2004, before switching to Yamaha in 2005.
He won another title that year and this was followed by two more victories in 2008 and 2009. Rossi again decided to shift and try his luck with Ducati in 2010 but this switch did not go too well for him and soon he retired from Ducati, in 2012. For the 2013 season, the 34-year-old again joined forces with Yamaha and is hoping to race with it for a couple of more years.
In the 2013 MotoGP season, the world saw a 20-year-old Marc Marquez, riding the Repsol Honda on his debut, after winning the 2012 Moto2 season. The first race in Qatar found him battling with his childhood hero, Rossi, for the second place. Even though Rossi eventually won the battle, the world saw a spark in Marquez.
Soon enough, everyone began asking the same question – can Marquez be the next Rossi?
The question gained a lot of hype when Marquez won the MotoGP World Championship title in his rookie season. He has achieved many circuit records, including the fastest laps and pole position record that had been Valentino’s forte these past years in MotoGP.
Marquez surely has something that wasn’t seen in riders who came and went before him, between the years since Rossi’s debut. In the opening race of this year’s season, on March 23, in Qatar, Marquez was again seen going head to head with the great Italian but this time the fight was for the top spot. The thriller saw Rossi finishing second by just 0.2 seconds of Marquez. Marquez has also managed to win the first three races of the season and has become the first motorbike racer to do it, since the Italian legend Giacomo Agostini back in 1971.
The next race is set to take place on May 4, 2014, in Jerez, Spain, where the home crowd will be chanting for Marquez. Let’s see what happens this season.
However, a few questions still linger with uncertainty for many fans.
Firstly, is the world ready to accept Marquez as the new Rossi or is Rossi still the people’s champion?
Secondly, how many more races and championships can Rossi win?
And thirdly, how long will it take for Marquez to snatch the GOAT title away from Rossi?
Only time will tell.
However, one thing needs to be understood. You can’t be the fastest forever. When the red lights go out, and you aren’t the first one to cross the finish line, nobody will remember your past victories. Only one question will matter most then: Who’s the fastest?
As soon as the green light signals the start of the race, every rider has one goal in mind: to stay ahead of everyone else and finish the race first. And that is what Valentino Rossi has been doing – and doing it pretty amazingly – since he made his debut in the premier class in the year 2000.
The Italian, who is regarded as the Greatest of All Time (GOAT), is a nine-time MotoGP World Champion with one championship win each in 125cc and 250cc races, and seven championship titles in the premier class. Rossi rode the Repsol Honda when he debuted and he won four consecutive titles with it, from 2001 to 2004, before switching to Yamaha in 2005.
He won another title that year and this was followed by two more victories in 2008 and 2009. Rossi again decided to shift and try his luck with Ducati in 2010 but this switch did not go too well for him and soon he retired from Ducati, in 2012. For the 2013 season, the 34-year-old again joined forces with Yamaha and is hoping to race with it for a couple of more years.
In the 2013 MotoGP season, the world saw a 20-year-old Marc Marquez, riding the Repsol Honda on his debut, after winning the 2012 Moto2 season. The first race in Qatar found him battling with his childhood hero, Rossi, for the second place. Even though Rossi eventually won the battle, the world saw a spark in Marquez.
Soon enough, everyone began asking the same question – can Marquez be the next Rossi?
The question gained a lot of hype when Marquez won the MotoGP World Championship title in his rookie season. He has achieved many circuit records, including the fastest laps and pole position record that had been Valentino’s forte these past years in MotoGP.
Marquez surely has something that wasn’t seen in riders who came and went before him, between the years since Rossi’s debut. In the opening race of this year’s season, on March 23, in Qatar, Marquez was again seen going head to head with the great Italian but this time the fight was for the top spot. The thriller saw Rossi finishing second by just 0.2 seconds of Marquez. Marquez has also managed to win the first three races of the season and has become the first motorbike racer to do it, since the Italian legend Giacomo Agostini back in 1971.
The next race is set to take place on May 4, 2014, in Jerez, Spain, where the home crowd will be chanting for Marquez. Let’s see what happens this season.
However, a few questions still linger with uncertainty for many fans.
Firstly, is the world ready to accept Marquez as the new Rossi or is Rossi still the people’s champion?
Secondly, how many more races and championships can Rossi win?
And thirdly, how long will it take for Marquez to snatch the GOAT title away from Rossi?
Only time will tell.
However, one thing needs to be understood. You can’t be the fastest forever. When the red lights go out, and you aren’t the first one to cross the finish line, nobody will remember your past victories. Only one question will matter most then: Who’s the fastest?