Rossi Eager To Challenge Marquez's MotoGP Supremacy in 2015
February 11, 2015 | By Tom Surber
The last two MotoGP seasons have ended with two major questions looming over the sport: Who could provide serious competition in the future for reigning World Champion Marc Marquez, and could the individual who provides the strongest challenge to him this season be the greatest rider the sport has ever known?
A 21-year-old wunderkind from Spain, Marquez entered MotoGP competition in 2013 and has won the last two world titles by comfortable margins. The greatest riders in the world have been left in the thunderous wake of the baby-faced Marquez, who has mastered the art of riding his Repsol Honda to the extent that competitors are practically helpless to compete against him at most races, let alone take away the world title.
In only two seasons, the gifted Marquez has amassed an astounding 19 wins, 30 podiums and 22 pole positions through his unique combination of aggressiveness and proficiency that have left him nearly unbeatable on a Honda machine that’s equally dominant.
Marquez’s world supremacy has never been more apparent than at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway where he has won four years in a row with MotoGP triumphs in 2013-14 and Moto2 wins in 2011-12. Marquez will look to win his fifth consecutive race at IMS during the 2015 Red Bull Indianapolis GP on Sunday, Aug. 9.
During the long winter break, Marquez’s competitors have been plotting their strategies to wrest the cherished World Championship from the dominant Spaniard.
One of those looking to challenge Marquez is the man who in essence put the sport on the map –seven-time MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi of Italy – who finished second in last year’s standings while posting two wins in his second season back with the Movistar Yamaha team.
“I think next year will not be impossible. It is the target,” Rossi recently told Autosport.com. “I say that because we can improve from this year to next year. Already the work has started, during all this season from the last test of last season, we demonstrated good potential already. We have to concentrate on myself and the team, and especially on the bike, to try to be closer next year.”
While Marquez compiled an amazing reign of dominance in winning 13 races last year that included 10 in a row to start the season – with the last win of that streak happening at IMS – the legendary 35-year-old Rossi knows about going on hot streaks of his own by winning 31 out of 48 races in capturing his first three World Championships from 2001-03. Whether or not Rossi, who owns the record of 82 MotoGP wins in his career, can rise up and take the crown from Marquez will be fascinating to watch.
Although Rossi has Marquez squarely in his sights, he need only take a walk through his own paddock to find a competitor with the ability to surpass everyone this season.
Rossi’s Movistar Yamaha teammate Jorge Lorenzo owns 33 race wins in the premier series and two MotoGP World Championships. He posted two wins last season and finished third in the standings right behind Rossi.
Lorenzo demonstrated his readiness for the upcoming season on Feb. 5 in posting the fastest time during an eight-hour testing session in Sepang. After getting a feel for the slippery and bumpy track, the Spaniard grew in confidence and picked up the pace to become the first rider to break the two-minute barrier that day with a 1 minute, 59.963 second lap, which no other rider bettered for the remainder of the session.
Other riders looking to challenge Marquez this season include his Repsol Honda teammate and Spanish countryman Dani Pedrosa, who owns 26 MotoGP race wins and two Moto2 World Championships. Pedrosa, who posted the second-fastest overall time in Sepang and ended Marquez’s 10-race win streak with his only 2015 victory in Brno, Czech Republic, finished fourth in last year’s standings.
Despite strong performances by Rossi, Lorenzo and Pedrosa at the recently completed pre-season test in Sepang, it was Marquez who recorded the fastest ever time on two wheels around the Sepang circuit with his clocking of 1:58.867, which bettered his own track record of 1:59.533 from the 2014 winter test. The two-time reigning World Champion’s performance provided additional reason to believe that all of his worthy challengers who yearn to dethrone the reigning MotoGP king have a monumental task in front of them.
“It will be very, very hard,” Rossi said.
View Zach Hudson's Blog Post on 2015 MotoGP Movers and Shakers