#JackMiller

MotoGP starts the back nine of the 2015 season this week in Indianapolis with all four Aliens looking fast and frisky. At the top of the heap, a mere 13 points separate factory Yamaha grandees Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo. Factory Ducati interloper Andrea Iannone, in third, sits squarely in the crosshairs of defending world champion Marc Marquez, who finally has his Repsol Honda figured out. Hard luck Dani Pedrosa on the #2 Repsol bike, health fully restored, loves Indianapolis. Expect an all-Alien battle for the podium in the Hoosier heartland heat on Sunday.

As the 2015 MotoGP season approaches the halfway mark, the factory Yamaha team of Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi, the Bruise Brothers in Blue, have had things pretty much their own way. Between them, they’ve won six of the seven races to date. Double defending world champion Marc Marquez and his Honda RC213V have appeared, in the words of Led Zeppelin, dazed and confused. The annual visit to the Cathedral, the Motul TT Assen, could interrupt several recent trends.

In what is likely to be a preview of the rest of the decade in MotoGP, three Aliens not named Marquez will begin their assault on the vice-championship this week at Phillip Island. Heading into Round 16 Down Under, a mere three points separate Yamaha ironman Jorge Lorenzo from teammate Valentino Rossi, who sits tied with Repsol Honda mini-Marc Dani Pedrosa. While world champion Marc Marquez’ mom dusts off some space in the family trophy case for the 2014 hardware, there’s plenty of racing left this season.

No disrespect to Dani Pedrosa, but I was really hoping Marc Marquez was going to win the Czech round of the MotoGP championship this past weekend. It would have been his 11th win in a row, a record-breaking achievement, surpassing none other than Giacomo Agostini. More to the point, it would have strengthened my argument about the 2014 MotoGP season so far: the racing has been kinda boring. It’s not Marc’s fault; the kid is amazingly talented and will surely receive Hall of Fame status when he eventually hangs up his leathers. Sure, the resurgent Rossi has been inspiring to watch, and other riders (Pedrosa, Lorenzo, Dovizioso, Aleix Espargaro) have shown flashes of brilliance, but c’mon, at the end of the day, we all know Marquez is going to wrap this thing up.