The 2024 MotoGP season is slowly picking up speed and after six races, a picture is emerging: there are bright spots, but also deep shadows. The 2024 MotoGP season promises excitement and surprises right from the start. We have a former world champion who is starting a new chapter. A shooting star who is breaking all records. And old problems that still don’t seem to have a solution despite known difficulties.
Marc Marquez: Metamorphosis on the Ducati
From the very first race, it was expected that Marc Marquez would approach the new season on his Ducati at full throttle. We all expect the old “try-and-error Marc”, who pushes the Ducati to the limit and also accepts the odd crash. But eight-time world champion Marc Marquez is showing a surprising face and practising restraint.
The past few years on the Repsol Honda have been characterized by serious crashes and injuries. These years seem to have left their mark on Marc Marquez. The Spaniard is highly focused and unusually reserved. He keeps his head low, approaches the races calmly and with concentration. In Austin Texas, he deliberately withdrew from the starting grid and sat away from the hustle and bustle in the pit lane to focus. It’s a different face that Marc Marquez has shown us since the start of the 2024 season. There was only one brief flash of the old Marquez mentality. In the race in Austin, when he pushed too hard in a promising position and lost everything.
After years of disappointment on his Repsol Honda, he finally seems to be competitive again on his new bike. Now he just has to keep his head and get his first win. I think it will only be a matter of time.
Pedro Acosta: The next generation?!
While Marc Marquez is undergoing a metamorphosis, Pedro Acosta is showing all his talent and ushering in a new era. The exceptional talent seems to want to continue his success story from Moto3 and Moto2 in the premier class.
As the youngest rider in MotoGP history, the youngest rider on the podium, the youngest rider on the front row of the grid, Acosta pulverized all records. Pedro Acosta impresses with his performance and not with excessive showmanship. Neither on nor off the track. His manner is strongly reminiscent of Casey Stoner, who also shied away from all the circus surrounding him.
Acosta even outclasses the seasoned KTM riders Brad Binder and Jack Miller. His GasGas teammate Augusto Fernandez cannot even come close to following him on the track. Acosta sets one exclamation mark after the next. There is only one mistake KTM must not make, and that is to focus solely on Acosta. One rider can make the difference, but a team, a manufacturer, always consists of several riders.
If you only focus on one rider, you end up like Honda. The Japanese manufacturer geared its entire focus, its entire development, towards Marc Marquez. Now the glory days are over and the Honda is no longer competitive.
It will be interesting to see whether the Japanese manufacturers will find a solution to their problems, and it will also be interesting to see what happens next with Marc Marquez and Pedro Acosta.
The current MotoGP season has a lot to offer and the last race in Austin showed that we can hope for a lot from the upcoming races in 2024.
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