The haziness of the Indianapolis skyline in the distance shows how humid the day was, but the rain stayed away, miraculously.
Marc Márquez recorded a little piece of history by matching Mick Doohan’s string of 10 straight premier-class victories, Moto3 provided typically great racing, the revamped infield road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway pleased everyone, and the weather stayed good in almost miraculous fashion (we could actually see dark clouds and lightning on the western horizon, but it just sat there, sparing the Speedway). Despite all those positives, the fans filed out of the grandstands in a mood that could best be described as deflated. Why would that be? The answer is in the first of my five random observations from a day of MotoGP.
1. No love for Márquez. From my vantage point in the grandstands, the biggest cheer of the day went up when Valentino Rossi led the first lap. As soon as Márquez got past Rossi into first place, the crowd went silent for the rest of the race. There seemed to be no excitement about witnessing a historic win that tied Doohan’s record of 10 straight wins against competition that did not have an asterisk beside it. Instead, the predominant sentiment seemed to be to cheer for anyone but Márquez. On one hand, I understand the desire for more drama about the outcome of these races, but I’m surprised how little love Marquez seemed to be getting. He is a likeable guy, respectful of the revered former champions he is trouncing with disturbing ease and regularity. He even is single-handedly bringing flat-track racing to new audiences, and flat-track is a beloved thing in these parts. Yet no one around seemed to want to see him win. I don’t remember people reacting this way when Rossi won seven straight in 2002.
2. No long farewell for Colin Edwards. The second-biggest cheer of the day was for Edwards, when he took his parade lap with a U.S. flag. As his last race on home soil, Indy was always going to be a significant race for Edwards, who long ago announced his retirement at the end of the year. But it became more important when his team replaced him with Alex de Angelis for the remainder of the season. He still gets a ride at Silverstone, on a third bike added to the team, but it sounds very symbolic, more about waving to his many British fans than really racing. Today will likely be the last time Colin Edwards scores a MotoGP point. But I’ll never forget that epic 2002 World Superbike season. The best battle I’ve seen.
3. Jeremy McWilliams: a hero emerges. Guys of a certain age in this country are insulted to see themselves on TV only when we’re being marketed something like Viagara or hair restoration products, while inside we cringe and prepare for the day when it will be something worse, like reverse mortgages or artificial hips. We all gained a little hope and self-respect when 50-year-old McWilliams won Saturday’s Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson race. As I describe in my book, it was advice from McWilliams about getting through the Corkscrew turn that almost certainly prevented me from becoming a tumbling contrail of dust the first time I rode Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. I owe him for that. Now I have another reason to cheer him on.
4. IMS puts its money down. A few years ago, I would have bet that I wouldn’t have a MotoGP round to go to within 200 miles of my home. IMS tried Formula 1 and let it wither away, and I could imagine that any place that has the arrogance to consider itself the center of the racing universe (both Indy and Daytona stake this claim, with different wording; neither is right) would easily decide to wash its hands of those annoying European racers on motorcycles. About the best any of the riders could say in the past was that they were impressed with the size of the facility and its history. The track itself was something they endured, with its patchwork of different surfaces and its unloved, unflowing first-gear turns. To my surprise, instead of saying “Good riddance,” IMS spent the money to repave the infield track and altered a few turns, most notably the final turn leading to the long straight on the oval. Everybody seems to love the changes. It seems IMS really is committed to MotoGP. Bravo!
5. I don’t understand fans who skip the Moto3 and Moto2 races. Invariably, Moto3 provides the closest racing, and Moto2 bikes are impressive racing machines in their own right. Yet every year I see people entering IMS just in time to see the MotoGP race. Or, I see people already inside the grounds walking around, buying a smoked turkey leg or chatting on their cell phones during the Moto3 race, thus missing the best racing of the weekend.
Maybe if more people actually watched the first two races, they’d be less bummed about Márquez winning. Again.
We need American riders in all three classes, and not just one or two in each…
I fear it’s going to get worse before it gets better. It’s not necessarily fair, but the reality is that Josh Herrin’s struggles in Moto2 will hurt the chances that a team will look at young U.S. talent such as Cameron Beaubier.