The arrival of Spanish sensation Marc Marquez in MotoGP can already be considered as one of the most anticipated and publicized debuts of the modern era.
Last time we witnessed such a large concentration of media attention for a new rider landing in the premier class was probably back in the year 2000, when Italian star Valentino Rossi made the switch from 250 cc racing (after taking the 1999 title with Aprilia) to the 500 cc class (on a Honda NSR500, winning his first race at the 9th attempt).
However, in the light of what the 19-year from Cervera has shown the world so far, such attention is certainly justified.
Just like Rossi, Marquez is now ready to enter MotoGP after winning the 125cc and Moto2 world titles, and he’s going to replace no less than two-time World Champion Casey Stoner on the much coveted Honda RC213V of the Repsol factory team.
Just to put that in perspective, in order to have the Spaniard signed by the influential Repsol squad, a biased Dorna – under the obvious pressure coming from the HRC guys – did not hesitate to suppress the even recent ‘Rookie rule‘, which would have forced Marquez to spend a year with a satellite team before joining the ranks of a factory team.
Apparently, as if the massive coverage from the media and the fact he will have to replace a terrific champion like Stoner were not alredy enough to put loads of pressure on the young shoulders of his new rider, HRC mainman Shuhei Nakamoto thought it was a good idea to rise the bar of expectations even further: “We believe Marc has very high talent and a bright future – said the HRC boss to influential British mag MCN – But riding in MotoGP is not easy.
To make one good lap time, even a rookie can do.
But to continue a good lap time for the whole race is a different story and he needs some experience.
But I hope he will be able to win several races, even in his first year.
This is our expectation.
”Until now, Marquez has been able to test his new Honda RC213V on just two occasions: the first one was at the Valencia test right after the last round of the 2012 season – held on the same track – and the second one at Honda’s private test in Sepang, Malaysia, where he shared the track with Alvaro Bautista (who was there with the Team Go & Fun Honda Gresini), and on both occasions the young Spaniard surely made an impression in terms of both lap-times (also in wet conditions) and quick acquaintance with the new machine.
Marquez will returns to Sepang in early February for the official MotoGP test, when he’ll be sharing the garage with new team-mate Dani Pedrosa and the track with all of his new opponents.
We would like to thank TwoWheelsBlog readers Azril Ezrani and Nik Ezri Hazim for the exclusive footage and video featured in this article, taken live at the latest Sepang test in November.