'Smart' Marquez 'studies where to take risks'

Marc Marquez famously won the 2017 MotoGP World Championship despite a staggering 27 falls during the season, plus some astonishing saves.

That accident tally was ten higher than any of his previous MotoGP seasons and exceeded only by rookie Sam Lowes.

However, crucially in terms of the title, the Repsol Honda star only fell twice during the 18 races.

All the other 25 falls occurred during free practice, qualifying or warm-up.

"Marc is the only one [who can do that]: A lot of riders [also] crash a lot, but in the races," declared title rival Andrea Dovizioso.

"I think Marc is one of the smartest riders in our championship.

"He crashes a lot - maybe he did too many mistakes and he likes to play with the limit - but in the important moments he is there. And he’s able to manage. That’s good for him!"

Dovizioso's approach is the polar opposite of Marquez, the Italian suffering just six falls during the 2017 season.

The Ducati star, a six-time race winner as he took the title battle to the final round, feels the 'new generation' of riders are more willing to fall than in the past, an approach he finds 'very strange'.

"Yes. I think from the past, maybe with the young riders change a little bit this. There are more crashes. Some riders are not worried about the crash. This is very strange for me, because anything can happen every time you crash. Even if you crash very slow.

"But this is the new generation. They are brought up in this way.

"In one way it’s positive because they are trying to play with the limit, but sometimes I think it’s worse because you can lose the feeling when you crash.

"I don't think it’s the best way to play with the limit and try to understand what you have to do. But every rider is different. Marc is also completely different. He had a lot of crashes but won the title."

Marquez studies where to take risks

Dovizioso's team-mate Lorenzo - who has also lost to the #93 in a final round title decider, while at Yamaha - says aggression and willingness to push over the limit are Marquez's stand-out characteristics.

"Marquez is a special guy. Different from the other riders. A lot more aggressive, not scared to crash. He hasn't been injured, very badly, so his confidence is not [in danger] a bit," Lorenzo said.

"But that's the way he rides, his mentality, and also a way of living. Always full throttle, always pushing a lot, even when training with Supermoto. Every rider has his own skills, Marquez's are his aggression and not being scared to crash. For him it works."

However, Lorenzo also believes Marquez is far more calculating about his risk-taking than it might appear, studying which parts of the track he should take the greatest risks on.

"The good thing for Marc is that before every practice he analyses a little bit, he studies, in which areas he can push more, to reduce the risk of injury. [He identifies] the sections it is better to push more, to not risk a big crash and a big injury.

"So he's trying always to push more in the safer corners, than in the more risky corners. For this reason I think usually he doesn't get injured."

Nonetheless, like Dovizioso, it's not an approach Lorenzo plans to use.

"I think it's always better not to crash! But also [without crashing] it's more difficult for you to understand the limit. So there are good points and bad points [to both approaches]."