Paolo Beltramo on the return of Marc Marquez: “He could play for the World Championship”
“If he came back with proper physical and motivational condition, he would also be an incentive for others.”
Well-known journalist Paolo Beltramo, a longtime contributor also for Sky Sport, in an interview with Sportal.it on the sidelines of the preview screening of the docufilm “Minimoto Revolution, La Genesi dei Campioni” held at the Fulgor Cinema in Rimini, also spoke about Marc Marquez and the prospects on his return to the track, which could take place even before the end of the season.
“He probably won’t be the same Marquez as before because he had to deal with his physique, for the first time really. He already had diplopia, then there was the first surgery, with the return to racing, and the second, the third operation, then again the diplopia after the crash in Indonesia and this fourth operation to put his arm back in place: all this will have definitely marked him,” Beltramo began.
“I hope he still has that ability to ride like he did. Now to say he will be the same with the same attitude, I think and maybe I hope not because it means he has matured, because no one is the same as three to five years ago, then he with the beatings he took…however, he was Marquez, he was so strong that if he were to come back with a proper physical and motivational condition he could play for the World Championship. It could also be a stimulus for the others, who could say ‘There’s Marquez, he’s back, he’s fine, play me.'”
Beltramo then also had his say on the Misano GP and the memory of Marco Simoncelli: “Remembering Sic is always nice even if painful. Like all GPs, there are the Worlds, but then the GP isa story in itself, it’s a novel apart, I hope there will be more people at Misano than at Mugello. We have a lot of Italians in all the categories who are going strong, who can win, one in Moto Gp even fighting for the World Championship, there are two Italian manufacturers against Yamaha, so I think there are all the reasons for there to be a beautiful, exciting and fun race and season finale. Now all the games are also settled for next year, there will be Bastianini with Bagnaia, Mir with Marquez, there will be the second Aprilia team, with Oliveira and Fernandez. And then there is the last race of Andrea Dovizioso, who deserves a round of applause for the career he has had, for the person and the guy he has always been. A beautiful and important appointment, I hope Bagnaia and Espargarò stay ahead of Quartararo to make the world championship more beautiful and exciting, then how it will go will go, the races are beautiful anyway as I always said,” he continued.
On the race for the World Championship, the journalist then commented, “Who will win the MotoGP? I don’t know, the favorite is Quartararo also because there are only six races to go: six races are 150 points, so there is still all the possibility. Bagnaia in the last three has recovered 47, he is 44 behind, theoretically everything is possible, we have to see what happens. It is obvious that the favorite is Quartararo, but I hope for Espargarò on the Aprilia and Bagnaia on the Ducati. Espargarò is closer, he also rides an Italian bike. It’s nice to see Aprilia fighting for the World Championship like it did in 125 in 250 in Superbike, it’s a beautiful thing. How will the title fight end? I don’t know, if I knew I would bet,” he concluded amused.
