[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JkTb1gC9Zc[/youtube]
This was Marc Marquez’s pole lap for this past weekends race at the lovely Circuit of The Americas. COTA is one of two American rounds of the MotoGP championship, and has become a popular destination for both teams and fans. This was the third year that COTA hosted the madmen on two wheels, and also marked the third win for Marquez. I was lucky enough to see him take the win in 2012, which makes me one of the lucky couple thousand to watch the young phenom take his first win in the premiere class. He was incredible then, and sort of ran away with the race.
I missed last year, but this year, since I live in Austin, I knew I had to go witness this incredible talent in person once again, even if I don’t follow MotoGP as closely as I do Formula 1.

My father and I arrived at COTA on Saturday, and we were immediately impressed by the crowd for what was mainly a qualifying day. It looked to rival anything else COTA hosted. We situated ourselves after going through what was lovingly called “Ducati Island” where the Italian Marque showed off both owners bikes, and their latest and greatest models. We saw the lower class riders take their session, all riding to the max, hoping one day to get to the big leagues that everyone was here to see. MotoGP qualifying was the main event of the day, and it started in the usual fashion, where everyone but the Top 10 from the previous sessions take to the track to try to find a way into the top 4 rows. Now, this is always a fun part to watch just to showcase how much talent is at the bottom part of the grid. MotoGP being what it is, there aren’t really any riders that don’t deserve to be there, as we sometimes talk about in the back marker F1 Teams.

 
The show started for the top tier riders after mixed conditions all day. Marquez was obviously having trouble with his bike, and pulled off. This left Rossi and the Ducati riders to duke it out for pole. Or at least that’s what it looked like. Marc sprinted to his backup bike, which was on the wrong set of tires that you would want for a fast lap, and managed to cross the line with seven seconds remaining. It was this lap that broke my mind, and the track record for GP bikes. Watching and listening to the bike in person, as Marc hung on through the triple apex 16, 17, 18 turn complex, and seeing the swelling crowd react to what they were seeing was magical. Marquez and Rossi are the two greatest motorcycle riders to have ever lived, and you need to watch them in person for the full experience.

The race was all about the duel at the front. Watching Rossi, Dovisioso, and Marquez all ride at the front, inches from one another at times was amazing. As someone who has ridden a few two wheeled things, and is a fan of going fast in things, I look at the MotoGP riders, and I say to myself, “I can never do that.” And most of us can’t. But going to see the extreme nature of these races in person is the only way to get close to it. Not riding your bike on a good road, or taking it to a track. You need to see Rossi almost fully off of his bike leaning through a triple apex corner. You need to see Marquez lift the back wheel while stopping after a 230 mile per hour straight. These men are the best that there has ever been, and maybe will have been. So I urge you, if you can, go see a race.
Come to COTA next year, or go to Indy later this year if you are in the US. And if you are interested in watching the series, this was only the second race of the year, so you can jump in now and still watch the title fight all the way to the end.  I for one, will be watching Marquez and Rossi and the Ducati duo duel it out for the rest of the season.
My two wheeled love once again has been sparked by the race in the Texas sun.
[Images used courtesy of COTA]