Mick Doohan: From the Australian bush to 54 GP wins

<!–

–>

Doohan talks MotoGP™ rivalries

<p>MotoGP&trade; Legend and five time 500cc World Champion, Mick Doohan voiced his opinion on the current state of the MotoGP&trade; World Championship and who he expects to be fighting it out in the years to come while at the Laureus World Sports Awards in Berlin. The Australian, who is no stranger to battling for world titles with fierce rivals, feels that Marc Marquez and Jorge Lorenzo are only just at the beginning of their story: &ldquo;Marquez and Lorenzo are both seriously at the top of their game. Talent-wise, they are both similar. Lorenzo is more calculated in the way he competes. Marquez is more seat-of-the-pants; both equally quick. It comes down to the way the machine is working for them; the confidence they get back from the motorcycle and what they can extract from that to put them in a winning position.&rdquo;</p>

<p>During his time at the top of the motorcycle racing world Doohan was almost untouchable, only finishing off the podium on four occasions throughout his five title winning years, but even then it was never easy for him nor will it be for either Spaniard: &ldquo;No matter which era you&rsquo;re in, even if someone is dominating like Marquez has, there is usually someone there to push him. Marquez is young, Lorenzo too and there&rsquo;s no doubt those two will be the rivals for the next three or four years.&rdquo;</p>

<p>It&rsquo;s still very early in the championship, but Doohan, a former Repsol Honda rider himself, feels that the crashes of Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi are important: &ldquo;Already Lorenzo hasn&rsquo;t finished one of the races; Rossi hasn&rsquo;t finished one of the races. It may be that they play into Marquez&rsquo;s hands and he ends up having a dominant year.&rdquo; Both Marquez and Lorenzo still have a couple more premier class titles to win before they match Doohan&rsquo;s five and if their rivalry is as intense as the Australian believes, it will certainly be a while before anyone other than Rossi matches his five consecutive championships.</p>

Source link