• Feature: Marc Márquez's childhood rival who did not reach the elite: "I spent a few chungos years"

Upon arriving at Yamaha's garage, Maverick Viñales heard consolations. "You have been very brave," "you have only made one mistake," "the track conditions were bad," his teammates repeated and he shook his head. Maybe he just cursed his luck, maybe not. Perhaps he denied because he expected someone to raise his voice and the only true and certain consolation sounded: "Winning Marc Márquez is almost impossible."

In Philip Island, the already champion played with his compatriot, his most intimate enemy, his childhood rival, and the outcome was cruel. Márquez danced on his Honda celebrating his fifth consecutive victory and Viñales crashed his bones against the asphalt in the last lap. There was no aggressive maneuver, no touches, nor was there controversy. Simply Viñales tried to advance in the last possible place and forced so much that his Yamaha, in a groan, lost its verticality.

The obvious consequence of what happened is the exaggeration of the exaggeration. Márquez is already only eight points from the record point in a Jorge Lorenzo MotoGP World Championship, he has 135 points ahead of the second, Andrea Dovizioso , and he can win only the three titles. After securing the drivers 'championship and the constructors' championship, he maintains his team, the Repsol Honda, just one point away from Ducati, despite Lorenzo's problems, which was again out of the top 15.

But the intrinsic consequence of Márquez's victory is deeper. As he did in Motegi last week, he signed a message to his opponents. "Don't try." Viñales, who dominated all the workouts, who took the pole and who left his career halfway to try to escape, ended up on the ground. Behind him, Márquez endured everything he needed, ahead of him at the start of the last lap and waited for Viñales to risk to pass him. When he did, 'crash'.

"When Viñales has started to tighten it has been difficult, a critical point in my career, but I knew that if I did not give up in the last laps I would be able to achieve victory. It was a weekend of madness, windy, cold and rain, but the team has done a great job, "Marc Márquez said that, like the rest, the chaos was saved for a few minutes. In the absence of six or seven laps, he began to sparkle, but the sky did not have time to be the protagonist.

Actually, the race was one of the most entertaining of the year. Until Viñales broke the race and took Marquez with him, he shot himself in a squad that had as many as nine drivers. Cal Crutchlow , who finished second, was almost always in front positions and behind everything happened: in the end Jack Miller finished third with three other surprises, Francesco Bagnaia, Joan Mir and Andrea Iannone , ahead of Dovizioso and Valentino Rossi .

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