Posted: 07/19/2013 07:25:55 AM PDT
Updated: 07/19/2013 08:35:18 AM PDT
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MONTEREY -- Marc Marquez sure knows how to make a strong first impression.
The 20-year-old rookie from Spain comes to the Red Bull United States Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca this weekend atop the MotoGP championship standings.
In eight races this season, Marquez has won twice and finished on the podium seven times. His only mishap came in the Italian Grand Prix at Mugello, when he crashed out with three laps to go while running second.
"I honestly didn't expect this before the start of the season" Marquez said. "Then when I finished the first race, second race, third race, I started to have a good feeling on the bike and my confidence improved a lot."
Marquez is the first rookie to benefit from a rules change in MotoGP. Since 2010, rookies were not allowed to go straight from the intermediate-class Moto2 series to the factory MotoGP teams such as Yamaha, Honda and Ducati. Instead of going to the bigger, better, richer factory teams, rookies had to go to the smaller satellite teams. The idea was to spread up-and-coming talent and improve competition.
But the rule was changed for the 2013 season -- either because it had outlived its usefulness (official reason) or because MotoGP and Honda had their eyes on a Spanish superstar-in-the-making named Marquez coming off the Moto2 championship (unofficial reason).
The timing was perfect. A seat was open at the Repsol Honda MotoGP team because of the retirement of Casey
Stoner. And Marquez already had a relationship with Repsol, the Spanish oil and gas company that sponsored him in Moto2.
The future star was thus aligned with a top team.
In Marquez's MotoGP debut in early April, he finished third at Qatar, becoming the youngest rider to finish on the podium in a premier-class race.
Marquez went one better -- OK, make that two better -- two weeks later. In the first MotoGP race at the new Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas, Marquez became the youngest winner in MotoGP history at 20 years and 60 days. The victory also made him the youngest rider ever to lead the standings.
Now, eight races into the season and coming off his second victory, at last week's German Grand Prix, Marquez has a two-point championship lead over teammate Dani Pedrosa and 11 points over reigning world champion Jorge Lorenzo.
Marquez did not imagine that he would have this kind of success so soon.
"In my mind it would have been quite difficult to understand if you had said to me, 'After eight races, you will lead the championship,' " Marquez said.
If the other riders are to prevent another victory by Marquez on Sunday, they will have to take advantage of his unfamiliarity with Laguna Seca. Marquez is making his first trip to the world famous track and there had been rumors that he was trying to get a look at the circuit on a street bike earlier this week. He says he didn't, so Friday morning's practice will be his first time on the track.
"I tried to come here with a street bike, but it was not possible," Marquez said. "So the first time will be with MotoGP."
American Nicky Hayden offered to show Marquez around, saying, "If he wants to slow down, he's welcome to follow me around."
Valentino Rossi, the seven-time 500cc/MotoGP champion, probably was joking when he advised Marquez to "go very slow the first year, try to understand corner by corner, then push next year."
All kidding aside, Marquez has been able to get ahead of the field without getting ahead of himself. His focus is on each race, knowing that he can't aim for a championship without first scoring podium finishes.
"I try to keep the same mentality every time," Marquez said "The most important thing is to concentrate in every race and try to concentrate on that moment, and not the future."
Contact Darryl Matsuda at 408-920-5215. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/DarrylMatsuda.
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