After a long month of vacation, as a result of the suspension, once again, of the Finnish Grand Prixwhich could never end up entering the calendar of the motorcycle world championshipthe championship resumes competition this weekend at the beautiful, mythical and popular Silverstone circuit with the British Grand Prixhaving as captains of their different categories, in the absence of nine grand prizes and 225 points, at French Fabio Quartararo (MotoGP)to the Italian Celestino Vietti and to Spanish Augusto Fernandez tied in Moto2 and to too Spanish Sergio Garcia leading Moto3.
But, without a doubt, the protagonist of the season is still the Catalan champion Marc Marquez who yesterday, without going any further and without too many arguments or information, TV-3 placed reappearing either this weekend at Silverstone or in the middle of the month at the Austrian Grand Prixsomething that nobody in the ‘paddock’ of the queen category grants the slightest credibility, because just fifteen days ago the champion from Cervera (Lleida), now residing and recovering in Madrid, has gotten rid of the sling he wore for weeks after the delicate fourth operation on the arm, humerus and right shoulder that they performed at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, in the United States.
the most wanted
What is clear is that the eldest of the Márquez, who is now 29 years old, the age at which the Australian Mick Doohan, one of his idols, won the first of the five consecutive 500cc titles he has in his showcase, He has always been, racing or in the dry dock, the most fashionable driver in the World Championship. MM93 is a Honda man and he has reiterated it many times he has been asked. Moreover, Márquez was the first who, before an astonished ‘paddock’, renewed, in February 2020, for the winged firm until the end of 2024.
Already at that time it was said that the firm Red Bull, one of the companies that invests the most in motor sport and that personally sponsors Márquez, had a great interest in the Catalan driver signing for the Austrian brand KTM, whose managers did not They were disgusted by the idea, but “as long as our bike is regularly on the podium or wins several races in a row & rdquor ;.
The truth is that both the Portuguese Miguel Oliveiraalready winner of four grand prix with KTM, like the South African Brad Binderwinner twice with the Austrian bike, have shown the potential of KTM, which is now going through a small bump and has begun to renew its list of riders with the return of the Australian Jack Miller and very soon with the return of Catalan Pol Espargaro.
But from the first day that Márquez appeared on the MotoGP grid, something that happened in that revolutionary 2013, the year in which everything changed, including the season in which the young rookie broke all the records for precocity in the category, then in still power of Kenny Roberts father and freddie spencerif there was a man, a coach, a team leader who began to speak well, wonders, about Marc Márquez and his aggressive and spectacular style and continues to do so today, it is the Italian Davide Tardozzi, current director of the Ducati Corse team. Tardozzi is, without a doubt, one of the three great admirers of Márquez and he has never, ever hid from it.
“When Àlex tells Marc how our Ducati is doing, it will be time to approach him and say ‘hey, how are you, Marc?'”
Davide Tardozzi / Ducati Corse Team Principal
So much so that, in a recent interview with gpone.com, Tardozzi says, half jokingly, half seriously, sorry, he means it very seriously, that the recent announcement or signing for next year of the young Àlex Márquez, two-time champion of the Moto3 and Moto2 world, by the team of the late Fausto Gresini, Ducati’s ‘satellite’ team, could cause the eldest of the Márquez to fall in love with the possibility, dreamed of by Tardozzi for years, of signing for the Borgo factory Panigale.
“Marc has all my respect and I am one of those who believes that, when he was on the track, he was the same Marc as always,” Tardozzi told gpone.com. “I have spoken with him on the phone to find out how he is and I hope, with all my heart, that he will be the same as before, because we all know that a title won against Marc Márquez has even more value.”
Great signing of Gresini
Tardozzi believes that the signing made by Ducati, through Nadia Padovani, Gresini’s widow and head of the Italian ‘team’, will turn Àlex Márquez into a driver with the potential to fight for the top positions. “It is clear that Àlex has not been able to offer Honda the ability that he has to be fast and I hope he can do it with our bike. If he does, I’m sure he’ll tell Marc how our ‘Desmosedici’ is going and then (laughs) it will be time to go up to Marc and ask him ‘hey, how’s it going, Marc’? & rdquor;
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Tardozzi, I insist, was the first, long before anyone else, than any other team, team manager or brand, to dream of having Marc Márquez on his Ducati. “We have our drivers and we believe in them, of course we do! I repeat, I have always had a fantastic relationship with Marc, who is very joking. He is Honda, we are Ducati, but we talk a lot in the parc fermé and under the podium. We have a nice and fun relationship.”
But it is not that KTM dreamed of hiring him one day or that one of Ducati’s top managers recognizes that it would be a dream to have him on their payroll, it is that Honda itself knows that without Marc Márquez it will not be possible to get out of the pothole, deep, very deep in which it is found. Despite the fact that, this year, Marc himself, pure sincerity, has come to say this season that “I have won grand prix with much worse bikes than this year’s”, the truth is that this season’s Honda RC213V is undrivable , even for the champion Honda.