There's an old adage when it comes to racing, and that's if you can get into your competitor's head, if they can see you in their mirrors, you've got them. The idea is, you take up space in their head, and they're going to make a mistake. I tend to use that whenever I'm racing anyone, whether it's in real life at a kart track, on a dirt bike, or even online. You pressure your opponents and pressure them until they get too far into their own heads, and you use their screw-ups to your advantage.
Ask me how I accidentally ran over the CEO of AMA while we were racing flat track...sorry, Gene.
That appears to be the game Ducati's Marc Marquez is playing with both Aprilia riders in MotoGP right now, with his prime target being that of Marco Bezzecchi, who's gone from the championship favorite to repeatedly making stupid mistakes and crashing out, as he did during last weekend's San Marino GP. That pressure, that force, that anxiety that Marquez has dolled out, however, has allowed the 9-time champion to return from not just a 100-point deficit and take the lead, but do so with a fraction of his arm's former strength.
And that's nothing short of wild to watch on track, and has made what was shaping up to be a boring runaway season, one dominated by Aprilia's trick aero system, into a five-way showdown.
Bezzecchi's latest foul came upon the very first lap of the San Marino GP, which saw the Italian low side his Aprilia and sending his motorcycle tumbling through the gravel. It wasn't as hard of a hit as he saw earlier this season, a crash in which I legit thought I witnessed him die, but his bike's crash-out was beyond violent and meant his race was completely over.
Thankfully, Bezzecchi was fast up on his feet and away from his bike, though he was visibly distraught after this, given what appears to be just a misstep in his concentration and lacking the heat in the front tire to make the long, fast turn. That misstep, however, was caused by Marquez, who was right up his ass from the start of the race, and cut every inch between the two through each successive turn.
Marc then takes command of the race, while behind him, a resurgent Jorge Martin, Aprilia's other rider, starts out well, but fades as he somehow gets passed by not only Alex Marquez, but also Pedro Acosta, and Fermin Aldeguer. Martin isn't getting affected by Marc at this point, but the pressure to deliver seems to be, and while he's a former champion himself, he can't escape it. At least, that's how it seems to me while watching the races.
What all this means is that Aprilia needs to right its riders' heads, as right now, what seemed like a championship title clinched upon the start of the season, is now a tie between them and Ducati, with Marc Marquez taking the rider lead, and their constructor lead possibly being ebbed away by others, too. That's not to say that Bezzecchi is out. When Marco is on, he's lightning. And Marc remains injured and recovering. There's room there.
But Bezzecchi can't let Marquez in his head anymore. He needs to tune him out and not look over his shoulder. He needs to run his own race.
