Beware Marc MK2

Michael Scott - a regular in the MotoGP paddock since 1984 and familiar to motorcycle racing fans worldwide through his best selling books on the likes of Wayne Rainey and Barry Sheene has been covering MotoGP since long before it was MotoGP. Remember two-strokes? Scott does.

On the eve of last weekend’s Catalunya GP, with all but a third of the season done, all three championships were as close as paint: two points in it in Moto2, and three in Moto3, after six of 19 rounds.

In the premier class, mind you, it is a thicker coat of paint, and the closeness is probably as deceptive as the artificially close racing that nowadays often happens in the early laps, when the top guys are saving their tyres.

The gap is 12 points, and the foregone conclusion of Marc Marquez looks like it will take some upsetting. Not least because of a discernible change in approach for the man who, six years ago, became the youngest-ever premier-class champion. The Repsol Honda man has been stealing rival Dovizioso’s thunder as a thinking rider. A measured and intelligent approach has long been Desmo Dovi’s strongest suit. Never flustered, and seldom making any noticeable mistakes, the Italian racks up strong finishes and points with a relentless rhythm. One remarkable statistic that emerged as he made his 300th GP start at the Mugello race, Dovi has not missed a single race since his 125-class debut way back in Italy in 2001 (he finished a considered 12th, in the points first time).