Marc Marquez Could Have a Bright Future After Racing as a Magician
A Lesson on the Laws of Physics
One does not simply walk off the street and into Honda Racing Corporation’s office, or any other major manufacturer’s building for that matter, and request to fill out an application to become the next MotoGP racer. Throwing a leg over a $2 million-dollar, 240-hp engineering work of art is reserved for those select few who were twisting throttles before they graduated from drinking out of baby bottles.
This past weekend marked the 17th round of the 2017 MotoGP season, in Sepang, Malaysia, and the video you see here depicts Marc Marquez of the Repsol Honda Team miraculously saving a potential crash that 99% of us mere mortals would have lost control of. The weekend’s weather was mixed, with conditions that saw hot and dry practices and a wet race, so riders tested a variety of tire combos aimed to maximize their traction. Seen here, apparently the less-than-ideal choice for Marquez.
During Free Practice Four (FP4), Marquez pushed his RC213V a little too deep into Turn 1 and lost the front end but seemingly possessed the sorcery to bend the laws of physics like only God or Chuck Norris can and saved it. SAVED IT! Barely on the bike, feet off the pegs, knee sliding for what appears to be more than 60 yards, the $2 million-dollar bike’s shiny paintjob never even touched the tarmac. Just as quickly as it happened, Marquez composed himself and the motorcycle and continued on as if nothing had happened as the sound of jaws hitting the ground echoed across the world.
My colon quivered just watching it. Definitely an epic ‘oh shit’ moment, but this is precisely why guys like Marc Marquez get paid the big bucks to push the envelope aboard these two-wheeled land missiles. Motorcycle crash videos are a dime-a-dozen, but save videos are rare, and are much more appreciated. As bikers, we are all too familiar with the ever-looming potential threat of a crash.
Facing the wrath of the laws of physics is something we could all do without, but it’s something that we have to constantly keep in the back of our minds as we practice the art of self-preservation – a significantly trickier task when aboard two wheels.
More by Brent Jaswinski
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I’ve seen stuff like that before, although it obviously takes skill and the ability to remain calm. Colin Edwards definitely had a couple of saves like that in MotoGP. Easier to save on a MotoGP bike that weighs the same as a 250 Ninja as well. Not so easy if you start pushing the front tire on your 600lb streetbike with oncoming traffic in the other lane. A little less leeway there to slide it out a bit, scrub off some speed and then pick it up again.
Probably also would have ended differently on a faster corner of the track, but again not easy and Marquez definitely makes some impressive saves.
" 99% of us mere mortals would have lost control of"... I respectfully disagree, we would never be at that lean angle and braking in the first place.