Oh, the drama! This is a story of audacious risk and a champion’s wisdom!
Picture this: Young gun Nicolo Bulega is being thrown into the deep end, taking over the factory Ducati seat from none other than the legendary, championship-dominating, gravity-defying alien, Marc Marquez! Marc’s out with an injury, and Bulega is strapping into the bike that everyone expects to win—the ultimate pressure cooker.
He’s probably thinking, “If I’m not instantly an alien myself, I’m going to look like a tourist who stumbled onto a MotoGP grid! I could be the guy who took the World Champion’s ride and finished last. The worst thing!“
Enter the sage, the strategic master of the late-braking, multiple-time rival to Marquez himself, Andrea Dovizioso.
Dovi, leaning back with the look of a man who’s seen it all—the championship fights, the near misses, the pure madness of racing Marc—just chuckles and drops this gem of wisdom on Bulega:
“Look, Nicolo. You’re worried about ‘the worst thing,’ right? You’re worried about not meeting the Marc Marquez Standard, which, let’s be honest, is somewhere between ‘impossible’ and ‘certifiably insane.’
But here’s the trick. You’re riding Marc’s bike. That bike? It’s been ridden to the absolute limit, proven to be a rocket. It’s the ultimate ‘A-grade’ tool.
If you jump on and you’re fast? Great, you’re the hero!
But if you jump on, and it’s a disaster? If you finish a bit further back? The headline is not ‘Bulega is slow.’ The headline is, ‘Look how good Marquez is! Only he could tame that beast!’
Either way, you win! You either prove your talent, or you inadvertently highlight the legendary status of the guy you replaced! There is no downside, Nicolo! Get on the damn bike and twist the throttle! The ‘worst thing’ is just a compliment to Marc!“
So, Bulega’s massive risk was re-framed by Dovi as a win-win lottery ticket! It’s a testament to the sheer, almost unbelievable, high bar that Marc Marquez set—a bar so high, you get credit just for attempting the jump!
You want to see the action that proves Dovi’s point?
Andrea Dovizioso and Marc Marquez redefined what a “last-lap battle” meant. Dovizioso was the master strategist who used his Ducati’s power and his own phenomenal braking to sucker Marquez in, only to then cut back underneath him. Marquez was the pure instinct, “win-or-crash” aggressive force.
The most famous of these epic showdowns, and the one that truly encapsulates the pressure they put on each other, is the 2019 Austrian Grand Prix.
Here is a spectacular view of that duel, featuring commentary in multiple languages to truly feel the global excitement:
Dovizioso + Marquez last lap battle in EVERY language! | 2019 #AustrianGP
- Channel: MotoGP
- Video Length: 5:45
- Views: 954,396
- Watch the Action Here: Last Lap Battle in EVERY Language
And if you want a deeper dive into the madness that was their rivalry, check out this compilation:
Top 5 last lap battles in 2019
- Channel: MotoGP
- Video Length: 10:07
- Watch the Compilation Here: Top 5 Last Lap Battles
Dovizioso won four final-corner duels with Marquez, which is why his advice to Bulega—that the pressure is an honor and a compliment to Marquez’s level—carries so much weight!
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