‘Koalas: just like if teddy bears were real and surprisingly
aggressive.’ – John Oliver.
Less than a week ago I mentioned that the last two rounds of
this year’s Moto3 world championship would set the tone for the rivalry between
Alex Marquez and Jack Miller for years to come. Well it seems we didn’t
need to wait that long, with this weekend’s round at the Sepang circuit in
Malaysia providing plenty of fireworks.
Alex takes after his older brother Marc, with a physically
aggressive overtaking style paired with pure speed. Like the late Marco
Simoncelli, if they see a gap they go for it however small, and don’t mind who
they upset in the process. For a slower rider
it might be an indication of riding outside of one’s limits, as if
they’re out of control. But for the Marquezes it’s indicative of the
killer instinct evident in all great racers. It’s the difference between
being a cowboy and a bounty hunter.
A lot of riders complain about this kind of physicality,
usually for one of two reasons: either they’re not willing to bash fairings in
retaliation (like Casey Stoner against Valentino Rossi), or they are, but lack
the speed required to keep up in order to do so (like Alvaro Bautista with
Simoncelli). Since Miller clearly didn’t fall into the latter category, I
imagine Marquez assumed he would fall into the former like so many others.
He was wrong.
After Miller had been leading the championship from the
first round at Qatar with Marquez clawing back the deficit round by round, it
all kicked off at Aragon with this:
On a drying track Marquez braked late on the damp inside
line trying to push Miller off the dry racing line. It was a big ask, and
Miller held his ground. Marquez sat up in an effort to save the front,
shoving Miller on to the damp outside track and
into the kitty litter. While the Red Bull KTM Ajo team didn’t lodge an
official protest, race direction deemed it necessary to investigate, ultimately
finding it to be a racing incident and hence no penalty points were
given. Marquez finished second, walking away with 20 points and the lead
in the championship.
Two things happened that day that neither Marquez nor race
direction anticipated. Firstly, a precedent was set. Dorna, the
commercial rights holder for MotoGP, is constantly under criticism for
perceived pro-Spanish bias, and by not giving Marquez a penalty point on his race
license it was confirmed for all and sundry that in Moto3 rubbin’ certainly was
racin’.
Secondly, and more importantly, Marquez had poked the
sleeping bear. Miller – the clown prince of the paddock, famous for his
‘goon’ riding celebrations, for making stupid faces whenever a camera was
around, for posting quotes from Will Farrell movies on social media – surely he
wasn’t up for a bar brawl, was he?
At the next round at Motegi in Japan a new, street fighting
Miller was on show. Throughout the race he compensated for his KTM’s lack
of straight line speed by being ambitiously late on the brakes, pushing Marquez
off the racing line at the aptly named 90° and Victory corners. A last
lap tangle with off track pal and British
Husqvarna rider Danny Kent meant that victory went to Marquez, extending his
championship lead to 25 points.
A week later at Miller’s home GP at Phillip Island it was
more of the same. With the home crowd behind him, Miller kept pushing
Marquez wide at Lukey Heights, taking the win and reducing the deficit to 20
points.
An important point to make is that, unlike Marquez, Miller’s
aggressive moves are reserved for Marquez alone. Against any other rider
he is as clean as a whistle. It seems that for Marquez any rider in front
of him has a target on his back, while for
Miller there’s only one, and given the lack of criticism of Miller from within
the paddock (unlike Marquez), it seems that the other riders have given Miller
their implicit approval. Finally the school bully is getting a taste of
his own medicine.
This weekend at Sepang Marquez had the opportunity to wrap
up the championship by simply scoring 6 points more than Miller. Miller
was on pole, Marquez 5th on the grid. The early stages of the
race were typical Moto3, with a breakaway group of Miller, Marquez, Marquez’s
Estrella Galicia 0,0 teammate Alex Rins and the two German Racing Team Hondas
of Italian Efren Vazquez and Scot John McPhee, with Kent not far behind.
Not so typical was Miller pushing Marquez wide at Turn 1 on no fewer than 5
occasions, then putting
a little more mustard on it with some timely shoves down at Turn 9.
In the dying stages Kent was able to rejoin the lead group,
providing backup against Marquez. After a desperate last corner dive
Vazquez won, with Miller second, Rins third and Marquez coming home fifth
behind Kent. Marquez’s championship lead now stands at 11 points.
Unhappy with the outcome of the race Estrella Galicia 0,0
team principal Emilio Alzamora lodged formal protests against both Miller and
Kent, for ‘unsportsmanlike conduct’ and ‘deliberately slowing another rider’
respectively. Both protests were unanimously dismissed, while Marquez
lodged an unofficial protest against Kent on the slow down lap.
So it looks like we’re in for a peach of a race less than
two weeks from now. One man will be crowned world champion, the other
left with a bitter taste in his mouth. Miller leapfrogs to MotoGP next
year while Marquez steps up to Moto2, presumably to make his debut in the top
class in 2017. Whoever loses will have two years to plan their revenge.
*All
images in this post property of Dorna Inc., used without permission.
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