Hitting the Apex Page #7

Oh! Iannone!

There was no way through there,

but through he went.

Marquez comes back at him immediately,

right across the front of him.

That is aggressive, isn't it?

Luthi's gone wide!

They were right next to each other

going into that first corner.

What a comeback by Marc Marquez!

He wins the opening round

of the Moto2 world championship

here in Qatar.

After missing those final three

grand prix with that horrible injury.

Oh, and that was Tom Luthi. He's really

not happy with Marc Marquez there.

Marquez went on to win nine

races and the 2012 Moto2 championship.

His season ended the same way it began,

with both victory and controversy.

Marc Marquez

may have qualified in second place

but he will start from the back row

of the grid, the new world champion

after an incident in practice on Friday

afternoon with him and Simone Corsi.

That was aggressive contact

several times

with other riders during practice.

It was a recurrence

of a number of things

that had happened during the year.

So that was like

an accumulation of penalties.

To say, "OK, you cannot ride like this."

So he was sent to the back.

He's an aggressive rider.

He's been involved

in controversy all season.

Speaking to Emilio Alzamora

on the grid,

there is no remorse there from his team

manager, his mentor, Emilio Alzamora.

In his opinion, he can't understand

why there was a penalty at all.

If that's what he thinks,

you can guarantee

that's what Marc Marquez thinks,

as well.

Marquez has already made

up about ten, eleven positions or so.

And he's tried to weave through

heading up towards turn two.

What a first few corners. He's already

up to about 13th position there.

It's not gonna be easy from here.

Yeah, this race is far from over,

a long way to go.

Whoa! Marquez and Aegerter

both touched in there.

Wow, they've done amazing

to hang on, though. Both of them.

Here he comes. He's not gonna

be shy about this one, is he? Wow.

Marc Marquez will win

his ninth race of the season!

What a ride by the world champion!

That is one of the performances

of the season

in any class of grand prix racing.

That's it! That's his time done

in the lower classes.

He's with the big boys now.

What an apprenticeship.

Welcome to MotoGP, Marc Marquez.

The rest of you, be warned.

2013, Rossi returns to Yamaha.

Can he still do it?

34 years old.

Two years without a win.

This is his 14th season

in the premiere class.

Most riders are at their peak

for very few years.

One or two have stayed competitive

for a decade or so.

But 14 years in the premiere class

and still a winner?

Nobody. Never.

Before the season begins,

Honda and Yamaha go testing in Texas.

The structure

in any good racing team

is to have young riders

come in to put pressure

on the older rider

and to extend their career.

Lorenzo was brought in in 2007

to do exactly what he has done.

To move in and gain experience

from the old bull

and then push the old bull out.

That's exactly what he did.

And off we went to Ducati.

And here we are back again.

The old bull is not

the threat that he once was.

Lorenzo is the world champion last year

and 26 years old

and still enormously talented.

The man's a machine.

I'm surprised by the desire

he still has to go racing

and to put himself on the line.

Dinner at night,

the way he talks about racing,

you can feel

the passion is huge for him.

Still I feel a little bit strange

when I saw Valentino,

when I saw Lorenzo,

when I saw Pedrosa...

Especially with Valentino.

But in the end, they are my opponents.

And we need to be stronger, too.

We cannot say

"OK, these guys are faster than me."

Testing

is the endless quest for more speed.

When you ride, you have

an idea to go as fast as possible

and you have to understand the way

to set the bike to make this idea true.

Everything is adjustable.

The chassis, the suspension,

the electronics.

In the end, all riders

are looking for the same adjustment.

That magic click.

The one that gives you confidence.

In bikes, the center of gravity

is changing all the time

depending on the body.

It's not a fixed center of gravity,

weight distribution...

Everything changes in one second.

It's something magic

between what the bike can be

and what the rider can do.

Dani Pedrosa is coming off

his best year ever.

Seven wins in 2012.

More than anybody else.

Not bad for a rider

once dismissed as too small at 5'2"

to handle a MotoGP bike.

People I don't think realize

that with the body that Dani has

to ride this bike

is a super difficult job.

Because these bikes are big and heavy.

The leverage you can do

moving on the bike

with short arms and legs

is more difficult.

When you brake, you cannot move.

And in the corner

it's more difficult to control the bike.

It's not easy being small,

to get the grip I'd like to have.

Less weight, less load on the tire,

less grip.

The circuit of the Americas

is a new track.

It's the first time here for everybody.

At the end of two days testing,

the Hondas are on top.

Marquez just ahead of Pedrosa.

It's time to go racing.

Who's it going to be?

I believe Dani.

Last year, he won seven races.

The package of Honda's machine,

Dani's riding, skill, and the team,

this package is now very, very strong.

Marc Marquez has a high level of talent,

but he needs more time.

Lorenzo was third fastest

in Texas. Rossi was fifth.

I don't know if Valentino

will be able to win again

this year or the next one.

Because he passed two years

in another world

and he lose completely

all his information

from his computer.

All the information to be fast.

This year he has to begin again.

To learn again to go fast.

To learn again to win.

For Valentino,

it's the possibility to be happy again.

Yeah, for sure.

If it all goes well,

are you ready to ring the bells?

Don Giuseppe has lubricated the bells.

Tomorrow we ring them!

Let's hope so!

Who's going to finish in second place?

Is it the return of the doctor

in second place? It is!

Rossi's second!

Marquez is third!

Marc Marquez, can he go

a step further and win here in Texas?

It's very exciting.

Here comes my son.

Hey, he's in front,

it's even more exciting.

He spends the whole session

with his fingers crossed.

The whole session.

Over the crest for the first time.

Try holding your fingers crossed

for longer than five minutes.

Marc Marquez now into second place.

He does it for the whole race.

He's scary to watch with.

Any little movement that Marc will have,

he shrieks or makes a sudden movement.

It scares me more.

I can't stand next to him.

You suffer a lot

but then if everything ends well

you feel such joy.

Here he comes!

We could be seeing the biggest thing

to hit grand prix motorcycle racing

since Valentino Rossi arrived

in the premiere class 13 years ago.

Rossi will be disappointed in sixth

place. We ride with Dani Pedrosa.

That speck in front of him

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