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When it comes to sport, it is difficult to accept the topic of good luck and bad luck. Thinking about motorcycle racing, it would be nice to imagine a rider winning or losing solely for his talent, for the ability to squeeze the maximum potential out of his bike or even for his innate ability to challenge any opponent openly. But we all know that in every sport, there is also another element that writes history, with a hidden hand which, however, deeply affects the stroke marked by the pen. We are talking about luck, misfortune, fate, destiny or however the hell we wish to define it.
The history of sport is full of episodes related to bad luck or luck and if we think of Marc Marquez's last two years, we can only believe that luck is more blindfolded than ever. What happened to Marc risks threatening the future of his career in MotoGP and putting Honda in profound difficulty, a manufacturer that throughout its sporting history has already experienced various traumas linked to the end of the career of extraordinary riders, a sort of curse that while on the one hand has brought some of the greatest stars of motorcycle racing to HRC’s bikes, on the other hand has brought an end to their glittering careers.
Freddie Spencer: a flash of pure genius, faded ahead of time
Freddie Spencer is the first example that comes to mind. Fast Freddie arrived in the world championship to light up the scene with his immense talent, and continuing after Kenny Roberts to build the legend of Yankee riders. His perfect riding, with a clean and effective style, gave him three world titles with Honda and a golden period between 1983 and 1985. It was especially in this third season that Freddie painted his own personal Mona Lisa, conquering in the same year the title in 250 and 500.
But in 1986 his light went out immediately, not like a flashlight gradually losing strength, but more like a light bulb that burns out from a power surge. Injury to his right shoulder, lack of sensitivity in his hand and entering a tunnel that led him towards the end of a career that seemed destined to last much longer. He was on pole, he was in the lead and headed for the garage to never return to the track as strong as before. The rumours abounded, but the end of Fast Freddie's competitiveness will forever remain one of the greatest mysteries of the sport.
Mick Doohan: from nightmare to dream, only to relapse
Fast forward and Honda, after enjoying the successes of Lawson and Gardner, welcomes an Australian named Mick Doohan to the team. He made his debut in 1989 proving to have talent, won his first race in 1990 and rose to the role of top rider. In 1991 he fought for the title and seemed ready to win it in 1992, a year that began in a triumphant way. He won five out of seven races and was second in the other two. A dominance that was abruptly interrupted by his terrible crash at Assen.
His career seemed over, the Honda curse seemed to have struck again. But a guardian angel arrived to save Mick and that angel was called Costa. Claudio Costa. He gave him another chance and Doohan managed to return to dominate from 1994 to 1998, becoming a legend. But the curse was around the corner and in 1999 it struck relentlessly. Jerez was the place, but this time not even the angel Costa was able to perform miracles. On with the end credits, the final word on a career that he gave so much to Honda and Mick, but which perhaps could have given even more to both.
Dani Pedrosa: strong in spirit, fragile in body
From 500 and it’s on to MotoGP and after Valentino Rossi the category was looking for an heir who seemed to arrive in 2006. The name was that of Dani Pedrosa, his talent did not need any introduction, while the problem was that to frame him in the photograph you had to point your lens a bit too low. Dani was a phenomenon in the saddle, but he had a really small body and a MotoGP bike in 2006 was already able to punch out over 250 hp on the rear wheel, with electronics far from the effectiveness of those available today. Pedrosa, however, did not give up and after each fall he got back on the saddle, only his small physique suffered more than the others from the violent blows of a crash at over 200 km / h.
He broke everything, collarbones, ankles, wrists, but in the saddle he remained like granite and came close to the title several times. But almost every season he had to miss Grands Prix due to some injury and never did manage to grab that crown. There was not one single episode that ruined Dani's career, but the mix between a bike that was not always at the top and the same desire to excel that often led him to crash and put a strain on his physique, which simply did not hold up. And so one of the most crystalline talents in the history of the world championship was never able to win a title in the MotoGP.
Casey Stoner: Indianapolis and Suzuka the points of no return
In the same period as Pedrosa, the Australian phenomenon par excellence arrived at Honda. Casey Stoner led Ducati to triumph in 2007 and with his immense talent he managed to hide the flaws of a project that were then revealed at the exact moment Casey was no longer in the saddle. Stoner won immediately, and indeed he dominated with Honda.
2011 was almost a walk in the park, but by now his desire for MotoGP had run out and in 2012 in France he announced his retirement. But bad luck was around the corner and in particular at Indianapolis, where Casey injured his ankle and due to the after-effects of this problem he was forced to skip three races and give up the idea of retiring as world champion, which seemed within his reach.
However, Stoner remained close to the Honda environment, he did some tests with the MotoGP bike and then convinced himself to return to racing in 2015, but at Suzuka, in the 8 Hours. His race was interrupted by a seemingly inexplicable crash while he was simply mesmerizing. The explanation was a throttle malfunction, right at Suzuka. Old ghosts reawakened, Stoner broke a scapula and tibia and abandoned competition for good on a professional level.
Jorge Lorenzo: the missed dream team and the fear of paralysis
The alien Marc Marquez, who dominated far and wide, arrived in the Honda universe. But for Honda that was not enough and in 2019 it put together a dream tea, the likes of which had never been seen before. Jorge Lorenzo, the man who was abandoned by Ducati with ‘impeccable’ timing, seemed as if he would make up a simply infallible team with Marc. The winter didn’t start badly, Jorge was fast at Jerez but got injured in training in January and that's where the troubles began. He did not take part in the tests in Malaysia, he arrived in Qatar and found in the garage a bike tailored to Marquez's needs. He tried all the same and crashed.
He crashed many times, but always got back on the bike. In Barcelona he seemed to have found the key to competitiveness, but he tried his hand at ten-pin bowling and knocked out three in one go. Vinales, Rossi, Dovizioso. Hardly crap riders any of them. But the speed was there, the results would come. Instead, Assen arrived and Lorenzo knew the meaning of fear again. He crashed and broke a vertebra, risked being paralyzed but luckily tragedy was averted. Jorge, however, lost enthusiasm, was afraid and it showed. He decided to stop despite having a multimillion dollar contract in his pocket for 2020, thus bringing down the end credits on his career. Indeed, the career of a champion.
Marc Marquez: two terrible years, the desire not to give up
Not such a bad thing however for Honda, who decided to promote Alex alongside his brother Marc. One will be the backbone, the other the rookie who has to grow and learn. To cement things well, HRC had Marc sign a contract until the end of 2023. Armour-plated for four years, as if to say that for the others there will be only crumbs. But Jerez in 2020 decided to change history and Marc's long ordeal begins. He broke his humerus bone, but had an operation and after a week he was already back on the bike again.
He couldn’t ride and after a few days the unthinkable happened. The plate inserted in his arm bent, Marc had to go under the knife again. The recovery went badly, the Spaniard felt he wasn’t making any progress and at the end of 2020 he decided to undergo surgery for the third time, but this time he did not call into question Dr. Mir. Things seemed to be going well and Marc was back on the bike at Portimao in 2021. He raced almost with only one arm, also because in addition to the problem with his humerus there was another problem in his right shoulder that had never been completely resolved and which created a lot of difficulties for Marc on the bike.
But he still won, dominating at Sachsenring, getting Austin back into his trophy case and picking up Bagnaia's gift at Misano with a smile. Marc was back and while not the steamroller seen until 2019, he could once again be a serious rival for the title in 2022. Then came the ice cold shower like a forgotten Pepsi in the freezer. Marc fell in training, suffered a head injury and diplopia occurred again, something that had already afflicted him in 2011 and forcing him to resort to surgery. The nerve of the right eye was injured, it takes time to evaluate what to do.
But in the meantime, it is impressive to look back and read this list of names that have somehow been struck down by bad luck. Two are missing, the most unfortunate of all, but you will understand for yourself why we did not want to write about them.
