New team-mate Pol Espargaro earned his move with five podiums in his past 10 races after only one in the previous 109. Morbidelli's team-mate last year Fabio Quartararo has moved to the Yamaha factory team after a disappointing 2020, but he has shown just what a threat he can be early in the year, starting with back-to-back victories last time out.Īnd while Marquez and Mir at least do not have to worry about Andrea Dovizioso, taking a one-year sabbatical, the Honda man might find competition a little closer to home. Jack Miller, now of the factory Ducati team, joined Morbidelli on the podium on both occasions and is being counted among the contenders despite never finishing higher than seventh over the course of a season in this category. Petronas Yamaha's Franco Morbidelli was second last year, just 13 points back, and finished the campaign with two wins in four races, as well as consecutive podiums to end the season. Mir was the man who went away with the title as Marquez missed out, but he was not alone in pursuit of the six-time champion's crown. Mir's sole previous appearance at Qatar does not suggest he will be able to forge an early lead either, having finished eighth in 2018.īut the defending champion made the podium in seven of his final 11 races in 2020 to clinch the title, Suzuki Ecstar's first riders' championship since 2000. Excluding four abandonments, Marquez has finished first (16 times) or second (eight) in his past 24 races. If he can return swiftly afterwards, however, his rivals will have reason to fear. Indeed, it is not an event Marquez will mind missing too much, with just one win in seven appearances at the Qatar Grand Prix.

This will be the 14th time the campaign has started in Qatar but only four of the previous 13 race winners – most recently Marquez in 2013 – have gone on to top the standings at the end of the year.Īfter the last check-up with the medical team, they have advised me not to participate in the two Qatar races so we will continue with the recovery to return to compete as soon as possible! #MM93 /vZRF1VsKzC The Repsol Honda rider will be confident, too, that his delayed recovery will not negatively impact his challenge. Prior to last season, when he appeared in only the first grand prix, Marquez had six titles in seven years. The 2020 championship would typically make Mir the man to beat in 2021, but Marquez is the bookmakers' favourite, even as he prepares to sit out the start of the season. From the Magazine AFSPA: Memories And Mourning In Nagaland’s Cycle Of Violence Manipur Under AFSPA: Poignant Stories Of Rape, Fake Encounter And Unending Wait For Justice Back To Where It Began: Six Decades Later, Assam Continues To Bleed Under AFSPA Darkness At Noon: Stories Of Pain And Suffering In Battle-Scarred Kashmir AFSPA: A Law That Is Discriminatory, Exclusionary, Racist

Marc márquez motogp