---
title: "MotoGP 2016: Marquez’s masterclass"
canonical: "https://readmotorsport.com/2016/11/28/motogp-2016-marquezs-masterclass/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Lewis Duncan"
section: "MotoGP News"
published: "2016-11-28T12:00:24Z"
modified: "2016-11-28T12:00:24Z"
---

# MotoGP 2016: Marquez’s masterclass

After a banner year in 2014, Marc Marquez was brought down to earth with an almighty thud in 2015. An aggressive Honda coupled with the Spaniard’s aggressive riding style was a recipe for disaster, and by the Dutch TT he trailed championship leader Valentino Rossi by a massive 69 points. Things somewhat improved in the second half of the year when a switch to the 2014 RC213V frame allowed him to push the bike more how he’d like, but the damage was done.

Honda’s prospects for the 2016 season didn’t look any better as the pre-season came to a close at the end of a three-day test in Qatar just two weeks before the new world championship was set to get underway. Marquez was half a second off the pace at the Losail Circuit, and the aggressive RC213V from 2015 still remained. The change to Michelin tyres and the loss of grip from the front compared to the Bridgestone was also tipped to derail Marquez’ charge, and no-one was sure how the former kings of electronics would fair with the unified software package.

![Mirco Lazzari gp/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readmotorsport.com/readmotorsport/2016/11/516740202.jpg)

However, the opening three rounds went off without a hitch for Marquez. A gritty, if slightly messy ride in Qatar saw him third and ahead of one of the factory Yamahas, whilst in Argentina and Texas he stormed to victory to take a 21-point lead heading into the European leg of the season.

Despite what the results may have said, two wins and a third were not indicative of Honda’s potential. The RC213V was still a difficult bike to ride, all who rode it really suffering. Indeed, the nearest Honda to Marquez in the first three races was 12, 28 and 47 seconds behind him. The typically unusual nature of the Americas races and the freshness of the regulations for everyone played their part, and Marquez’s mettle would be tested when the championship returned to familiar ground in Europe.

The Spanish Grand Prix marked a turning point for Marquez’s season. The high temperature on Sunday had robbed the Jerez Circuit of grip, and the RC213V’s acceleration woes were being amplified. Also, the hard-braking nature of Marquez’s riding style, needed to recoup the time lost in a straight line, saw the Spaniard chewing through his front tyre and beginning to really suffer. With Rossi well up the road, Lorenzo proving impassable and his front-end giving him several warnings Marquez decided it best to settle for third and minimise the damage to his championship lead. Obviously learning from the mistakes of the year before, it was this change in mentality that would ultimately lead him to the title.

Marquez hated backing off, because it’s not in his nature, but the events of Le Mans would have certainly confirmed to him that it was necessary. Again struggling for traction and performance out of the French circuit’s low-gear corners, he was having to make up his time under braking. On lap 15, he pushed too hard into Turn 7, hit a bump and tucked the front whilst battling for third. He remounted his battered and bruised Honda and finished 13th.

![Mirco Lazzari gp/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readmotorsport.com/readmotorsport/2016/11/538271404.jpg)

Two weeks later he lost out on victory to Jorge Lorenzo by just 0.019s after his Honda let him down on the run to the line, and he was forced to ease off in the closing stages of the Catalan Grand Prix to avoid crashing whilst fighting with Rossi for the win. But a DNF for Lorenzo in Barcelona saw him come from 10 points down to 10 points clear, which wouldn’t have been possible had he carried on the way he was in Jerez and crashed, which he likely would have done.

In a wet Dutch TT, Marquez wisely opted to not fight the on-the-charge Jack Miller and settled for a crucial second. A crash for Rossi and a poor showing from Lorenzo in the tricky conditions meant that the Spaniard simply didn’t need the victory, something made possible by his new approach. Whilst caution was paying dividends, on the occasions he could push the bike the ‘old Marquez’ would make an appearance. In Germany, having dropped to ninth after an early mistake, he felt it time to switch from wets to slicks and came in at the end of lap 14. It was a bold decision and required him to riskily push from his out-lap to get heat in the tyres, something Pol Espargaro behind proved wasn’t easy. But once his rubber was up to temperature, the Honda rider scythed his way through the pack to take his third win of the season and head into the summer break 48 points ahead.

He may not have liked to have played the long game, but the next four races saw it crucial for his title aspirations. The Red Bull Ring, with it’s numerous low-gear corners and hard acceleration zones, was always going to work against Honda. Marquez’s weekend wasn’t helped by a collision in FP3 with teammate Dani Pedrosa that saw him suffer a slight dislocation to his shoulder. Riding in pain and at a disadvantage, he struggled to fifth on Sunday whilst nearest title rival Lorenzo finished two spots ahead, though only cutting his lead to 43 points.

![Mirco Lazzari gp/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readmotorsport.com/readmotorsport/2016/11/589492028.jpg)

Marquez finished behind Rossi in the Czech Republic, a decision to start the race on the soft wet tyres in the hope of a flag-to-flag race not paying off. A frantic race at Silverstone with himself, Rossi, Cal Crutchlow and Andrea Iannone saw Marquez forced to push hard, and he almost threw it away at Stowe corner in the latter stages. He crossed the line fourth, repeating the result a week later in San Marino after encountering grip issues early in the Grand Prix. But, with Rossi having to claw back a 59-point deficit after Germany and Lorenzo enduring a couple of difficult races at Brno and Silverstone, Marquez’s lead still stood at 43 points.

A dominant win in Aragon put him 52 points clear and, after all the uncertainty pre-season, Marquez headed to Japan with his first shot at winning the 2016 title. It was an almost impossible scenario, however; he needed to win and hope Rossi was 15th and Lorenzo fourth or lower. The Spaniard nailed the start and was doing all he could, though both Yamaha riders were sitting in the podium places. But, on lap seven, Rossi fell of at Turn 10 and amazingly Lorenzo did the same 12 laps later at Turn 9. Marc Marquez took the chequered flag, to the amazement of all, to become the 2016 MotoGP World Champion and the youngest rider ever to win five Grand Prix world titles.

![Mirco Lazzari gp/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readmotorsport.com/readmotorsport/2016/11/615003972.jpg)

Two crashes followed in Australia and Malaysia, the former of which coming whilst leading, proving just how different 2016 could have been for the Spaniard had it not been for his change in approach. Marquez rounded off the season with a second place, a poor launch killing his chances of a final victory, though the result was enough to reclaim the manufacturers’ title for HRC.

The double MotoGP champion that came into the 2015 season was replaced by a totally different, more mature rider in 2016. Marquez, unlike Honda, was able to learn from his mistakes this year and surely put together his greatest season in Grand Prix racing. Sure, daft errors and a bit of bad luck for Yamaha helped his cause, but there were several races this season that ‘old Marquez’ would have ended picking gravel from his crash helmet.

By taming the beast within him that always wanted him to push to the edge, he was able to limit the damage on the days not destined for success whilst inflicting greatly when the time was right. Should Honda arrive on the grid in Qatar in 2017 with a good motorcycle, coupled with his new, methodical approach to racing, Marc Marquez could prove to be unbeatable.

![Mirco Lazzari gp/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readmotorsport.com/readmotorsport/2016/11/623645712-2.jpg)