Analysis
MotoGP
Analysis: Marquez's fight against himself
The statistics support the defensive approach Marc Marquez has been using this year in MotoGP, as he leads the championship comfortably despite having fewer wins than ever.
Oriol Puigdemont
Edited: Sep 22, 2016, 10:46 AM
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As Marquez has admitted several times, he is in a conflict with himself every time he jumps onto the track.
The part of him that has made him a reference and that, among other things, made him the youngest-ever MotoGP champion in 2013, clashes with his new version, much more rational, born from the realities of last year's championship, where he couldn't stay in the title fight for the whole season.
Up until now in 2016, the second side has won out, although the first has emerged from time to time - like at Silverstone, where he lost the chance to climb on the podium after trying to take second place from Cal Crutchlow and when he had already passed Valentino Rossi, his main rival in the championship.
"This old Marc came back again in the last laps and I finished fourth and the people said 'why did you take that risk, you lost some points," Marquez told MotoGP.com in an interview.
"But in that case if I'd finished second? 'Marc is the king because he took the risk, he took a lot of points.' "
Most of the time, Marquez is convinced that, under the current situation, the best strategy is to try to secure as many points as possible.
And the statistics prove him right.
Ahead of the 14th round of the championship this weekend in Aragon, Marquez leads the standings by 43 points from Rossi, his closest rival. That is despite his numbers being the least attractive since he stepped up to the top category.
In 2016, Marquez is the rider with the most victories (three), despite that being his lowest digit in MotoGP so far.
At this point in 2013, when he made his debut, he had won five races, not to mention the 11 he had won in 2014.
Even last year, his worst season, he had one more victory ahead of Aragon, although back then he had four zeroes, while this season he has not failed to score.
That switch to a 'zen' philosophy is the key to the Honda rider's success, and what has allowed him to make fewer mistakes than anyone.
The instability of the championship, a result of Michelin's arrival and the new electronics, has taken almost everybody by surprise, and Marquez has been the best at dealing with it.
"Maybe I'm not the strongest guy but we are strongest in all situations. In the end for a championship the most important is the consistency," Marquez said.
"You have one priority and that is the championship, and for the championship it's much better to go a different way in some races."
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