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2013 should be a better year for MotoGP.
Some of the races have been close, but for me, not particularly exciting and ultimately often became inevitable victories for one rider (usually Pedrosa). The title battle lost its punch through a couple of crashes, admittedly one of them self-inflicted. A real shame. MotoGP has also generally been a lot less interesting this year due to the loss of one Marco Simoncelli shaking up the order, and the controversy that followed him. Crutchlow and Bradl have been fast and fun (and Crutchlow is very funny), but there's no way they have the same appeal - not to me. I guess, what I'm saying is, as much I respect Lorenzo and Pedrosa's ability (esp. Jorge, although Dani really improved a lot), MotoGP needs personalities at the very front of the grid. The empty feeling I've had watching MotoGP these last couple of years and especially last year, is only a legacy of the fact that we were blessed for so long with Rossi's charisma, so he really left an emptiness at the top during his Ducati stint, and the same is true of when we lost #58 last year.
The good news is now we have Rossi back on front running machinery, and some guy called Marquez who apparently won something? Sometime? I don't know, I've not heard much about him
These two things in mind, we should at least see some good intra-team battling going on next year, if nothing else. It was good to see Rossi back on a Yamaha in testing the other day; will he be able to beat Lorenzo? I think he'll struggle - but the fight could be fun. If he doesn't win, at least we'll know it's the rider and not the bike...Of course, Marc Marquez replaces Casey Stoner, who left some size 'genius' shoes to fill at Honda. Luckily for us, it looks like Marquez might be all that and maybe more. I won't try to hide my excitement about Marquez and I don't see how any bike racing fan could. I don't like to hype sportsmen but with him, it's hard not to. Winning from the back of the grid at Valencia in treacherous, wet conditions, is one of the most brilliant performances I have ever seen in motorsport. I can only imagine it was something similar to those who watched live Senna at Donington that day in 1993. It was one of those rare, magic moments that feels historic at the time you watch it, and just won't be seen again for an incredibly long time. So to me it's clear: MotoGP just got a new master and it's only a matter of time before Marquez wins on a Honda and starts challenging for the crown of MotoGP's top rider. He's already doing nicely in testing; http://www.motorspor...gp-winter-test/
But I shouldn't place too much expectation on Marquez. I do expect him to crash a lot (they almost all do at first..). I do expect him to be aggressive like Simoncelli. I do expect him to upset other riders and probably be involved in some very controversial incidents, and I hope he starts to learn from those better than he has so far. And I do fully expect that, like Simoncelli, the top riders will criticise him (actually, they're so nervous about him they've already started..).
All in all, sounds a lot more interesting, right?
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