Fabio Quartararo / Marc Marquez, same fight?

At the mid-season mark, fabio quartararo has six podiums, including four victories. Overall, the Niçois has 156 points, four more than all the other Yamaha riders combined. But in the fold of the tuning fork firm, it is not the YZR-M1 which poses difficulties for some of them.

Yes, his teammate Maverick Viñales complains about being slow when there is no grip, but he won in Qatar and finished second at Assen from pole position. At Petronas, there are extenuating circumstances. Franco Morbidelli has the 2019 model, the same machine that allowed him to win three times last year, but which is no longer evolving.

However, this did not prevent the vice-world champion from getting on the podium in Spain. Now injured in the knee, Morbidelli could well miss the next two meetings in Austria. As for Valentino Rossi, if many say of him that he is slower than the others, it is rather the level which has increased.

He's still as fast as before. To be convinced, barely more than a tenth separates his racing time at the Spanish GP this year at the end of which he finished 16th from that at the Andalusian GP in 2020 when he won on his last Top 3 to date.
In the opposing clan, it's not really the same. At Honda, Marc Marquez makes the difference by being the only one to (over) drive his RC123V well beyond the limit. He often pays a high price, like last year in Jerez when he fractured his right humerus or last weekend in Assen when he was thrown from his mount, injuring his foot. passage.

He is the tree that hides the winged builder's forest of problems. The figures bear this out. In the 150 races contested since his arrival in the premier category in 2013, he has triumphed 57 times compared to 13 for the other Honda representatives: Dani Pedrosa (9 times), official Honda driver from 2006 to 2018, Cal Crutchlow (3 times) and Jack Miller (1 time), in Dantean conditions at Assen in 2016.

And that's not all, despite his absence from the first two Grands Prix of the season and three blank results since his return to Portugal, the Catalan is already ahead of the three other Honda drivers in the general standings (Pol Espargaro, Takaaki Nakagami and his brother Alex ).

Above all, it allowed the factory, which had not won since Valencia 2019 (21 races in a row) or been on the podium since Aragon last year (11 races in a row), to take its head out for a moment some water. But once again, it’s thanks to him…