Is Marc Márquez going to win the Grand Prix Of The Americas? Looking at the weather forecast, it's a safe bet to say he will. Not because of the weather on race day - Saturday and Sunday look set to be dry and reasonably warm. But because Friday looks to be a complete washout, with heavy rain forecast for most of the day.
What this means, in effect, is that riders will have to push hard for a lap time on a sketchy track at the end of Friday, and go into FP2 on Saturday morning with next to no dry setup time. There is going to be a lot of guesswork involved.
Why does this favor Marc Márquez? Because if there is one thing that Márquez has historically been good at, it is in riding around limitations of bike setup and character. He takes what he has, and he rides it to its current limits, rather than wishing the bike was different and bewailing the lost potential.
Learning to make do
He gave a good example of that approach in response to a question from one of the riders racing in the MiniCup USA, a series using Ohvale bikes which held an event at the kart track at the rear of grandstand at the Circuit Of The Americas. Márquez was asked how riding motocross helped prepare him for a track like COTA.
