Marc Marquez against the MotoGP sideshow: the superstar won’t stand for it

Marc Marquez against a circus-like MotoGP. A few hours before lining up for the GP he would then dominate, the nine-time world champion skipped the Karting Challenge, an idea by the organizers to entertain the Motegi crowd. On kart number 93 there were the red suit and the Ducati rider’s helmet, but he wasn’t inside. The prank lasted only a few minutes, and the absence cost the nine-time world champion a warning from the organizers. But it sparked a reflection on these promotional events in the middle of a title fight.

The exhibition, commissioned by promoter Liberty Media, was meant to entertain the over 120,000 spectators at Motegi. Marquez’s substitute gave himself away and, once discovered, abandoned the kart and walked back to the pit lane without taking the start.

The first to notice was his direct rival in the title race, Jorge Martin, who also said he was very annoyed by the initiative. "When they told us about the event, I was skeptical; a hit from behind can leave you banged up for the race," said the Aprilia rider. "At Turn 1 I slowed down and stayed there with the slower ones."

Marquez said the idea of a stand-in, he explains, was almost a joke within the team. "Ahead of warm-up I said I needed to apply ice, and one of the team members said, ‘It would be funny to send a double.’ But they figured it out."

Behind Marc Marquez’s choice there wasn’t a prank, but a firm stance. "There’s a limit. I obviously understand the show, but we’re here to fight for a championship, not for these pranks."

A concept tied to the “selfish” reasoning we had already written about in Ruthless Marc Marquez at Motegi: “You have to be selfish”. The result proved him right: Marquez won the race starting from second place, ended the weekend with a full haul of 37 points, and moved within two of Martin.

The Karting Challenge was held over a single timed lap after the grid lineup, and the riders obviously didn’t take it seriously. The comic show was delivered by Jack Miller, with two bananas mounted on the steering wheel in Mario Kart style, who took a service road and ended up on Motegi’s old oval to the laughter of his team. MotoGP had already put on similar events, like the tuk-tuk race in Buriram at the start of the season. But the Marquez case shows that, with the title on the line, not everyone is willing to play.

There’s also another aspect to consider: does it make sense to turn MotoGP riders into circus clowns? Fine, motorcycling is changing; times change and so do the audience’s tastes. But our sport has an identity that “ideas” like this can seriously jeopardize.

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