MotoGP Feature: Age Before Beauty?
Michael Scott | May 8, 2013
Marc Marquez made light of his new record – youngest ever premier-class Grand Prix winner. Not important, he said.
Worried rivals might think otherwise. So what does it actually mean to be so young and already winning? And does winning only your second GP guarantee success?
Pretty much. Six riders have won GPs before turning 21: Freddie Spencer, Norick Abe, Dani Pedrosa, Randy Mamola and Jorge Lorenzo bested by Marquez.
Only Spencer and Lorenzo have won championships. Pedrosa and Mamola are highly ranked nearly men. Abe never quite reached that standard. He only won twice more, and his best championship position was fifth, in spite of factory Yamaha backing.