In 2014, Marc Marquez dominated MotoGP, winning ten races in a row in the first half of the season on his way to his second straight world title in as many seasons in the premier class. 2015 was a totally different story, as Marquez struggled to get to grips with the 2015 Honda, Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi slugged it out all season long for the championship. Rossi ultimately lost out to Lorenzo having lead the championship virtually all the way, and starting the last race of the season in Valencia from the back of the grid, after a controversial clash with Marquez in Malaysia.
From the first race of the year in Qatar to the last one in Valencia, the 2015 season, the 2015 season thrilled us all. It saw the return of Suzuki to the premier class, the emergence of Andrea Iannone as one of the best riders on the grid, and the resurgence of Ducati, as they had there most successful season since the Stoner days. It also saw a controversy filled and thrilling battle for the championship, between Jorge Lorenzo, and Valentino Rossi. Marc Marquez had dominated the 2014 season. In 2015, domination was a word that was rarely heard.
The season opener was once again at Qatar, and Ducati stunned in qualifying when Andrea Dovizioso took pole position on the brand new GP15 bike, ahead of the two Repsol Honda's of Marquez and Dani Pedrosa. In the race though, a mistake by Marquez and arm-pump issues for Pedrosa (which nearly ended his career) meant the Honda's hardly played a part in proceedings, as the two Yamaha's and two Ducati's battled it out for the race victory. Ultimately Rossi prevailed in what he said was one of the greatest battles of his career, but it was oh so close to being a Ducati victory.
After Marquez's victory in a much less dramatic US MotoGP, Rossi took his second win of the season in Argentina, starting 8th and clawing his way up the field with the extra hard rear tyre on his bike giving grip for longer than the normal hard rear tyre on the #93 of Marquez. After a brief battle for the lead, exiting the hairpin after the long straight, the two touched, and Marquez then rode up the back wheel of Rossi's Yamaha, taking himself out of the race but Rossi being fortunate enough to carry on and take the victory, ahead of Dovizioso and Cal Crutchlow. Dani Pedrosa had been forced to sit out from Texas to Le Mans, thanks to his arm-pump surgery after his struggle in Qatar.
What was to follow after Argentina can only be described as a Lorenzo masterclass. Jorge took four utterly dominant wins in a row at Jerez, Le Mans, Mugello and Catalunya, taking pole position at nearly all of them, and taking the championship lead away from Rossi, both on the same number of points but Lorenzo leading due to more wins so far in the season. Lorenzo had 'gone missing' in the first few races of the year, not being a threat at all to the podium, although the reason he finished down the order in Qatar was put down to an issue with his helmet. However, he had just thrust himself right back into the championship fight, and some people were wondering how Rossi would be able to fight back and re-gain some momentum from his team-mate. They soon learnt to never discount 'The Doctor'...
What was to follow after Argentina can only be described as a Lorenzo masterclass. Jorge took four utterly dominant wins in a row at Jerez, Le Mans, Mugello and Catalunya, taking pole position at nearly all of them, and taking the championship lead away from Rossi, both on the same number of points but Lorenzo leading due to more wins so far in the season. Lorenzo had 'gone missing' in the first few races of the year, not being a threat at all to the podium, although the reason he finished down the order in Qatar was put down to an issue with his helmet. However, he had just thrust himself right back into the championship fight, and some people were wondering how Rossi would be able to fight back and re-gain some momentum from his team-mate. They soon learnt to never discount 'The Doctor'...
Rossi had won many times in Assen before, one of those occasions being his first win in over two years, after rejoining Yamaha, in 2013. In 2015, Rossi took pole position with an incredible lap, something that even he didn't expect, proclaiming "it doesn't happen a lot, but its nice when it does!". He knew the race would be very tough, as Marquez, now on the 2014 chassis/frame, was second on the grid and hungry for another victory. At the start, Rossi and Marquez both got away perfectly and lead the field into turn 1, and the fight began between the old legend, and the young star. It was to be one of the battles of the season, and again up there, by Rossi's estimation, among the greatest fights of the Italian legend's career...
Valentino was not able to shake Marc off his tail at all during the race, the two nose to tail but able to pull away from Lorenzo. Then, with just around 7 laps to go, Marquez made his move into turn 1 and dived down the inside of Valentino to take the lead, but any hope of Marc's about pulling away, and any fear from the Rossi fans of seeing Marc doing that, went out of the window as Valentino stuck to him like glue. With a handful of laps left Valentino made his move and went back down the inside of Marc, and then, at the final chicane on the last lap, Marc dived down the inside of Rossi, the paid touched, both went off but Rossi went through the gravel, somehow staying on the bike and took the victory he so desperately needed, and he took away the momentum from Lorenzo and reclaimed the championship lead.
Whilst Rossi was delighted with the win, Marquez wasn't happy at all with the Italian, feeling he had the inside line and therefore the corner. Rossi argued that he was clearly still in the lead of the race and he was perfectly entitled to do what he wanted. It was the first spark between the two riders, and would ultimately result in the controversial clash at Sepang a few months later. Lorenzo was happy to have finished 3rd in the race, not having the pace of the top two and still within striking distance of his team-mate, and knowing not to push over the limit when he knew he hadn't got the pace on the day to win.
Away from the championship battle, it had been a great two consecutive Saturday's for the Suzuki team. In Barcelona, they stunned the whole paddock by taking an amazing 1-2 in qualifying, Aleix Espargaro taking pole ahead of rookie team-mate Maverick Vinales, although the race turned out to be a disappointment, and then Aleix took third on the grid at Assen. The Suzuki was fantastic through the corners but lacked horsepower down the straights. However, at the start of the race in Barcelona, both bikes dropped way back down the order, not because of horsepower (or lack of) but due to the bikes not having a seamless shift gearbox. The team has now ran that successfully in testing ready for 2016, and is targeting podium places for the new season.
Another rider worth mentioning as well as the Suzuki boys is Andrea Iannone, who was riding better than ever before as the season went on. He had taken an absolutely stunning pole position at Mugello, just a few weeks after injuring his shoulder, and had ridden to a solid 2nd place in the race. He had taken his first podium at the start of the year at Qatar and was starting to show up more experienced team-mate Andrea Dovizioso and was to play a crucial roll in one of the most amazing races in MotoGP history at Phillip Island later on in the season. Back to the battle between the championship contenders, and after getting back on the podium at Assen, Mar Marquez was soon back to winning ways.
In Germany, at the famous Sachsenring, Marquez took a dominant win in a Honda 1-2, amazingly only his second win of the season. At this point last year, he had amassed ten wins from ten starts, this year, only the two victories. He was a long way back in the championship but he would not give up and would push like hell to take his third consecutive world title in 2015. Another win was to follow in Indianapolis, after a last gasp pass on Jorge Lorenzo just three laps from the end of the race, to claw more points back in the championship fight. Lorenzo took victory next time out at Brno, and with 3rd place, it looked like Marquez could haul himself back into title contention. But, at the next race at Silverstone, he would drop out of the championship fight, for good.
Silverstone belonged to Valentino Rossi. In atrocious conditions, he fought his way up from 4th to pass his team-mate and take the lead from the race, Marquez soon following suit, and the two bikes pulled away from shock 3rd place man Danilo Petrucci, Lorenzo really struggling in the wet conditions. Then, on lap 13, Marquez flew off his Honda at Copse corner, his fourth crash of the year, catapulting him OUT of the fight for the championship. Just when it looked like he might be regaining some momentum at last in the fight, all of that was blown away on a wet British Sunday afternoon. Rossi meanwhile had extended his championship lead once again, and the fairy-tale of a tenth world title for the Italian looked like it really could come true.
In Malaysia, Marquez denied helping his fellow Spaniard. "Of course not," he said when asked if he was trying to help Lorenzo. "I did my race, and in fact if I wanted to help Lorenzo I wouldn't pass him on the last lap and push to the limit. I don't know why they say that. "It is true that I was trying to manage the tyres, but it's also true that in the middle of the race I was trying to push and open a gap and it was not possible. "I did the best race for my team and the most important thing for me is that I won. "Sometimes you try to manage the race, but the only time I would help is my team-mate. "If it's not my team-mate, I will push for the victory." When asked if he felt Marquez was helping him, Lorenzo sarcastically replied: "Yeah. Mainly in the last lap, a lot."
The next race at Misano was a bit of a disaster for Yamaha. In very mixed conditions, the two Yamaha's had moved ahead of polesitter Marquez and to the delight of his fans, Rossi was leading. But, after going onto the wet weather bikes, the track started to dry again, and before to long everyone was back into the pits to change back again. Now Marquez timed his move to perfection and would ultimately rejoin in the lead of the race, but Yamaha waited to long and both Lorenzo and Rossi dropped down the top five. It got even worse, as Lorenzo skidded off the track and into his one and only retirement of the season. Rossi, in 5th place, was lucky to pull away further in the championship as he was behind Lorenzo after the disastrous stops. Marquez took the victory, ahead of surprise podium finishers Bardley Smith, who didn't change bikes at all, and Scott Redding, who actually crashed earlier in the race!
The next race at Aragon saw a dominant victory by Jorge Lorenzo, in a race that could have played out oh so differently. Marc Marquez had taken pole, but dropped back at the start behind Jorge. After that, he pushed harder than ever to pass him, as he had the pace to do so. What that resulted in however, was not a scrap for the lead, but a 5th DNF of the season, another crash, another race ruined. As Lorenzo dominated, a resurgent Dani Pedrosa brilliantly battled for 2nd position with Rossi, and won the battle. It was surely his most impressive ride of the season, after it looked like his career was all but over. At the next race in Japan, after brilliantly managing his tyres in a damp race, he won. It was his first victory since Brno 2014, over a year ago.
The next race was at the ever popular Philip Island, and it saw one of the greatest MotoGP battles in the sports history. Marquez took pole position, but his path to victory was by no means straightforward. A battle for the ages took place, the top four riders, Marquez, Lorenzo, Rossi and Iannone fought as if it was the championship deciding race, none of them giving up or giving an inch. There were fierce battles behind the top four as well but it was the front where everyone was really looking. Iannone was arguably the star of the race, passing both Marquz and Rossi at turn 10 in one go. He then passed Rossi at the same place on the last lap, just after the Italian took 3rd place from the Ducati rider. As well as Iannones pass on the last lap, Marquez stormed from 3rd to 1st, taking the win on the very last lap. This though was where all the controversy, already boiling up after Assen, really kicked off.
After the race in Australia, Rossi said that Marquez backed him up into Andrea Iannone at Philip Island, the Ducati ultimately passing the Yamaha on the last lap, as Marquez went on to win. Asked by the Italian media after the pre-race press conference in Malaysia on why he thought this, Rossi said “Because he would prefer Lorenzo to win. He is angry at me for a personal matter. Although he never said it, he thinks that in Argentina I made him crash; and then at Assen he is still thinking about the last chicane, in his head he feels he should have won that race. Since then he has been angry and thinking like a child: I do not win, but you do not win either. At this point, the lesser evil is for him is for Lorenzo to win.”
In Malaysia, the tension boiled right over, in one of the most controversial Moto Grand Prix of recent years. Pedrosa took pole and went on to dominate the race, Lorenzo fighting his way up to 2nd place, leaving Rossi and Marquez to squabble over 3rd. Squabble was an understatement. The pair passed each other 15 times, and with 14 laps to go, they tangled at turn 14, Marquez going down, Rossi staying on the bike and ultimately finishing 3rd. Accusations and opinions of what happened were thrown all over the place, but it eventually lead to Rossi starting the final race of the season from the back of the grid. He declared that "the championship is over" because of the penalty. The scene was set for a thrilling finale...
In Valencia, Rossi tried his utmost to win the title. He surged from the back all the way up to 4th place, making some fantastic overtaking moves along the way. Up front, Lorenzo was fast and consistent, but not able to shake off Marquez. Near the end of the race, Pedrosa, who had managed his tyres brilliantly again like in Motegi, surged forwards and joined the battle. However, the two Honda's ended up fighting over 2nd, allowing Lorenzo to break away in the dying moments of the race. With Rossi 4th, victory for Lorenzo handed him the title. It was his fifth world title and his third in MotoGP. There was more controversy after the race, about whether Marquez had not passed Lorenzo on purpose to stop Rossi from winning the title. Despite all that, both men would have deserved the title, after fighting so hard all year long, in one of the most memorable MotoGP seasons to date. Lorenzo though made it his year. With Michelin tyres and new electronics coming in next season, 2016 could be even better.
