Roll out the Top Gun quotes, Maverick has done it. At 21 years old he is the first man to win in Moto3, Moto2 and MotoGP. He is the first Suzuki rider to win a GP since Chris Vermeulen in 2007 and the first to win in a dry race since Sete Gibernau at Valencia in 2001 or Roberts in 2000, depending who you talk to. There was nothing remotely fortunate about this win (there never is). There were no extenuating circumstances, no weather issues, no injuries or mechanical problems for the rest of the grid. He started from the front row but got away well, took the lead early and never lost it. In fact, he pulled away steadily. His first ten flying laps were in the 2min 02sec bracket. The rest, apart from the final one, were 2min 03s. Second place Cal Crutchlow managed two in the lower bracket, Rossi in third three. Marquez did seven but they were randomly scattered through an eventful race that involved a gloves-off dice with Valentino—You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling—and clipping Crutchlow’s knee as he flew by at the end of the longest straight on his way to an off-track excursion that ended his chances of a rostrum finish: Negative, Ghost Rider.
OK, enough. Maverick was imperious, Crutchlow backed up his Czech win with a typically combative second place that involved seeing off Rossi’s challenge, and Marquez looked even more on the edge of the precipice than usual. The fight with Rossi involved some very tough moves indeed. They may shake hands nowadays, but it doesn’t mean they l
