Marc Marquez has had a difficult 2021. since his return from an wounds that kept him away from MotoGP almost the entire 2020 Season (the only exception being Jerez, where he contracted The broken humerus during the first race and overloaded the first plate used to fix The bone during training), he has been confront. His overall victory rate is already quite remarkable: The Spaniard has won 57 of his 138 races, a rate of 41.3%. But if you divide the tracks into left-handed and right-handed circuits, the contrast is strong.
On the tracks in a clockwise direction, Marquez Won 29 victories out of 98 races, with a victory rate of 29.6%. But on the circuits in the counterclockwise direction – Motorland Aragon, Circuit Of The Americans in Austin, Indianapolis, Laguna Seca, Phillip Island, Sachsenring and Valencia – he has a success rate of 28 wins out of 40 races, which is exactly 70%. However, only the division by race direction is an oversimplification. There is much more behind this, as we see when we break it down into circuits.
At Indianapolis and Laguna Seca, he holds a 100% MotoGP record, winning 3 out of 3 and 1 out of 1 respectively. The Sachsenring is even more impressive, his 100% record includes 8 victories in 8 MotoGP visits and the last 11 races he has contested in the three categories of the Grand Prix. Marquez was on track to keep his 100% record intact in Austin in 2019 when an engine brake problem caused him to lose the front and crashed out of a very comfortable lead. This fall meant that he had won only 6 of the 7 or 86% of the races in Texas.
Not all the tracks on the left are equal
But there are also routes where Marquez has more problems, even if he is counterclockwise. On Phillip Island, a track that perfectly matches Marquez’s style, he has won only 3 races in 7 appearances, which is a win rate of 42.7%, which is a little more than his average on all circuits. And his record in Valencia is positive, at least according to Marquez’s own criteria: 7 races, 2 wins and an average of 28.6%. This is even lower than his average on the right-hand roads. However, there is every reason to place Marquez as the favorite on the Motorland Aragon circuit. In terms of results alone, his record is unmatched there. Out of his 7 appearances, he turned 5 of them into Race Wins.
And of the two races he didn’t win, he fell from the top twice: in 2014, when he didn’t arrive in time to change his bike when it started raining, and in 2015, on the second lap, the year when the bike wasn’t working and Marquez was trying too hard to win races when the Honda RC213V wasn’t up to the task.
There is another reason to believe that Marquez will perform well on the Motorland Aragon circuit. This is his original route, even if it is further from his hometown of Cervera than Barcelona. Marquez feels at home on the Alcañiz track, especially because of the layout. The track has 10 left turns and 7 right turns. Left-handers are long and fast and need throttle control and a soft touch to cope with the rotation of the rear tire. They are tailor-made for a rider who spends all his time on a track bike, as Marc Marquez does.
Doubts heavy loads on his shoulder
The main obstacle for Marquez is the fact that the recovery from the operation on his arm is taking so long. Although the humerus itself is strong, the problem is that the various operations have exacerbated an older problem. During the operation to correct the frequent dislocations of the shoulder that he had suffered in 2019, the surgeons touched a nerve. This causes problems, especially in combination with a lack of strength in the right shoulder and right arm.
Judging by the photos shared by Marquez on social media, the musculature of his right shoulder is still not the same as that of his left shoulder, although the difference is now only minor, a huge improvement since the beginning of the year. However, Marquez has learned to get around these restrictions. Even in the races where he has fallen this year, he has shown promising results. In Barcelona, he went from thirteenth place to sixth before crashing.
In Assen, he started from twentieth place and crossed the finish line in seventh position. At the Tour Of Austria, he was sitting in second place and looked browbeat when the rain came, and only a silly mistake brought him down. At Silverstone, he qualified in second place despite a terrible fall of 275 km / h on Friday, the second fastest of his career. What does this mean for Aragon? After qualifying at Silverstone, Marquez was optimistic. “We are driving better and better,” said the Repsol Honda driver.
“For my part, I feel better and, of course, we are improving the little things. It seems like we are closer to the best guys. The main thing is to be constant on all roads. In the second part (of the Season), it seems that we can do it. In Austria, I was competitive. Here we are competitive. Aragon and Misano are coming. We have to maintain this Level.”Marquez was more cautious in the Repsol Honda press release before this weekend’s race. “Aragon is always a track that I like to race on and we have achieved good results in the past.
