The MotoGP World Championship sprung back into life last weekend at Brno, in the Czech Republic, after a four-week summer break. And for many, the resumption of action turned out to be a little underwhelming.
Dodgy weather for much of the day leading up to the race cast a great cloud of doubt over the grid, as the teams and riders put into preparation plans for a potential flag-to-flag scenario.
A flag-to-flag is indeed what transpired, and once again it was Honda’s Marc Marquez who made the switch to slicks at the correct time and cruised to victory in a race that, leading up to it, boasted a five-way fight for top honours.
Social media has been abuzz with disgruntled fans calling for a change in the rules regarding wet-dry races, as complaints were made that Sunday’s situation always seems to benefits Marquez.
But just because the five-times world champion – who has won the last three flag-to-flag contests – cruised to victory, does not mean it was a straightforward afternoon.
The earlier Moto3 race, and last year’s wet affair, led the riders to believe that the drying track would not be ready for slicks quite as soon as it was, which was why no-one gambled on dry tyres at the start.
Marquez was one of two riders – the other Avintia’s Hector Barbera – who went for the soft rear rain tyre, which was a bold choice in the conditions. Typically, the medium is the best option for the conditions experienced as it offers more durability.
However, Marquez had been in trouble with the medium option wet tyre all day. It did not offer him much confidence when he tried it in warm-up, and on the way to the grid it gave him another odd feeling.
“Honestly, when I try the hard rear tyre this morning I did not feel well,” he revealed post-race.
“The reason for this, maybe a strange tyre, but with this I lost all confidence and when I go out of the box to the grid I felt something strange with the hard and I say ‘put the soft (in)’.”
So he was forced to switch to the softer option, and he soon found this was a mistake as the rubber fell to pieces, dropping him through the pack to the fringes of the top 10.
Similar to last year’s German Grand Prix – when he dropped down the order following an off-track excursion – with nothing to lose and seeing more and more dry patches appear, he rolled the dice and changed bike at the end of lap two.
Already into the 1m58s on his first proper flying lap, Marquez was 10 seconds quicker than the likes of Valentino Rossi, Johann Zarco and Andrea Dovizioso who stayed out, while others followed the Honda man’s lead and boxed.
At the end of the sixth lap, Marquez had taken the lead and was almost 20 seconds up the road – a gap that would remain through to the chequered flag.
It is very easy to say in hindsight that the end of lap two was the correct time to pit, but Marquez really had no other choice, and those on the harder wets would still have had a little grip at that time.
Marquez is being hailed for his strategy call, but we should not be praising him for that. What won him that race was his bravery.
“I go in very, very early, because it was still wet, was very difficult. The first, second lap I nearly crash many, many times but I stay on the bike and I start to push,” said Marquez.
This is something we have seen time and time again in this situation with Marquez; he is able to push to the limit straight out of the box while conditions are still sketchy to generate temperature in his slicks.
“Marc is honestly very good , so quick, suddenly when he goes from wet tyres to dry tyres because he is very aggressive and he warms up the tyres very quick,” Ducati’s Jorge Lorenzo admitted.
“I’m not the best one, I need a bit more time to understand the limit of the track. I lose several seconds in that first part of the second race.”
And this is the key thing – no-one can do what Marquez can after the bike swap, and this is why he proves so dominant. The rest take a few laps to get the heat and confidence from the tyres, but by this time Marquez is long gone.
Perhaps the flag-to-flag situation made the Czech Grand Prix a little duller – at least in terms of the lead fight – than what Saturday’s running promised. Ultimately, though, Marquez’s third win of the season had nothing to do with strategy; that was purely a consequence of issues with the medium tyre.
Marquez is the best rider when it comes to flag-to-flag races, and if he ends up making these kinds of grands prix boring then so be it. After all, the best rider on the day should be the one who wins.
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