Domination – A column from Phil Hall
With the MotoGp season now officially one third complete there really has been only one topic of conversation; the total lock-out of pole positions and wins by the Spanish wunderkind, Marc Marquez.
And already the naysayers are out in force. So typical it is of human nature to try and belittle the achievements of others whose skills and abilities far surpass those which we possess. “He’s only winning because he has the best bike.” Mmm, where have I heard that before? Could it be back in 2007 when the “establishment” wasn’t prepared to admit that a relatively unknown kid from the backblocks of the Hunter Valley was winning races on merit, because of talent, and making the rest look pretty ordinary in the process?
“He only got where he is because Honda made DORNA scrap the ‘Rookie Rule’” is another one. The so-called rookie rule was never designed to stop talented riders joining “works” teams. It was designed so that the private teams got the use of the best talent for at least a year before they graduated to the top teams. Yes, Honda certainly would have lobbied DORNA to get MM93 into the Repsol squad forthwith, but, if that wasn’t to be, where do people suggest he should have gone? The best riders in the privateer teams were all contracted for 2013 and beyond, there simply wasn’t anywhere to put him that would have advantaged anyone.
Anyway, as someone who has always wanted to see credit being give where it is due, I will discard the carping and just enjoy watching a master at work, doing what nobody else can do, apparently, and doing it with a smile.
That being said, however, the domination of the Spanish youngster is giving rise to some more thoughtful comments, and these centre mainly around what his ease of winning is apparently doing to the sport as a spectacle. Note, please, that I still refer to it as a sport. I am far too realistic not to acknowledge that MotoGp is now a BUSINESS and that all decisions regarding it are made with the financial bottom line and the money to be gained from the TV rights being the primary consideration. I still like to think of it as a sport, however, and I am pretty sure that the riders would prefer it that way as well.
Barring injury or a prevailing wind off the treatment works, Marquez looks set to clinch the championship early in the season; far earlier than we have been used to seeing in recent years. Somehow the relative parity of bikes and riders has ensured that, for quite some time, DORNA has got its wish and seen the title decided very late in the season, often at the last round. More uncertainty about the winner leads to more ticket sales at the later venues and better TV revenue for those last few, tense, races. There are even some who have suggested that DORNA has indulged in a little “tinkering” with the results to achieve this, pointing to the farcical disqualification of Marquez at Phillip Island last year as an example.
But, let’s say that the kid keeps winning (or racking up huge bags of points if he can’t). Clinching the championship early is not going to please the bean-counters even though crowd numbers and TV stats seem to suggest that all is still well. Should he do this, you can assume that both of these will taper off if the title is no longer in the balance at Valencia.
And it leads me to consider the question, is domination of a sport a good thing? There are numerous examples from which I could choose but let’s just stick with the “wheels and an engine” area.
Formula One has never seen an era of domination like the Schumacher era. Seven world titles easily eclipses the previous record of five, set by the Argetinian colossus, Juan Manuel Fangio. And the titles came in pretty quick succession as well. For a while there it was a no-brainer who would win. What did this do to the sport of F1? Apparently very little if empirical measurement is anything to go by. The crowds still came, the people still watched on their TV, many (myself included – my antipathy for Shcumacher’s cheating ways is well documented) watching the battles for the minor placings more intently and finding pleasure in that. Did the Schumacher era damage F1 materially? I don’t think so.
For many years in the 70’s the endurance races for sports cars was dominated by Porsche with a series of terrifying prototype cars and a roster of awesomely talented drivers. Then, in our era, the same scenario played out with Audi taking its turn to put the opposition to the sword. Did these eras materially affect the health of sports car endurance racing? Again, probably not.
Back to bike racing. In the 90’s Australia’s Mick Doohan won FIVE world titles on the trot. Nobody even got a look in. Doohan’s domination was crushing, not only in terms of wins but in terms of how he went about achieving them. Once everyone had gone as fast as they dared in qualifying, Mick would go out, put in a lap that was half a second faster then retire to the pits with a smug expression of a job well done on his face. If pressure came in a race, he would wait until he had seen how much the other rider had in the toolbox and, when his box was empty, Mick would up it a notch or two and just motor away. It was a masterful exhibition, every time he set wheels on the track.
Did the domination of the Doohan era materially damage the sport? No, of course it didn’t. In fact, in each of these instances, and many more that time and word limits do not allow me to enumerate, the domination of the game by an individual or a marque has inevitably led to everyone else raising their game in an attempt to stem the flow. For this is how sport works. Competition provokes everyone to try harder. And, as is so often said when this issue is raised, it is not the winner’s responsibility to slow down and so improve the spectacle, it is everyone else’s responsibility to get faster, tougher and better and beat the incumbent with skill and technology.
Incidentally, I note with some amusement that many of the naysayers (mostly Australians) who complain about the Marquez steamroller are noticeably silent when asked if they complained about Mick Doohan’s winning of five titles in a row back in the day! Perhaps it isn’t because he is riding a Honda, after all, so did Mick. Perhaps it is because he is Spanish? No, it couldn’t be that, or could it? It is also interesting to note that the same people who are now whinging about seeing Marquez win all the time were more than happy to see Rossi do the same in the last decade. Double standard, perhaps?
Whether the kid wins the title early or not is not the issue. The issue is that we are becoming, vicariously, part of an amazing chapter in Grand Prix racing. Should he choose to extend his career at the top level (I somehow think he won’t) Marquez looks set to break every record that has so far been written. Is this a bad thing? I don’t think so. We are watching history be made; sit back and enjoy the show.
