The curse of 1042 days is over for Marc Marquez, or at least almost according to the person directly concerned. That’s how many days have passed since his last success in MotoGP, which took place in Misano in 2021, and it’s an impressive number if you consider that we’re talking about the one who was the absolute dominator of the category from 2013 to 2019.
An abstinence due first to the serious injury to his right arm suffered in Jerez in 2020 and then to a Honda that has lost its competitive edge. With his move to Ducati, albeit on an “old” GP23 from Gresini Racing, everyone would have expected that his abstinence would end very quickly. Instead, the #93 had to wait until the 12th round of the season, at Motorland Aragon, and for now the party is half over, because success came in the Sprint.
This weekend, however, the eight-time world champion seemed truly without rivals from the very first laps on Friday and he confirmed it both in qualifying, with the pole position, and in a Sprint that he led from start to finish, arriving at the finish line with a wide margin over the new world championship leader Jorge Martin. According to Marc, however, the work must be completed tomorrow, truly putting an end to the “curse” with the victory of a real GP.
“In my team everyone was euphoric, but I told them it’s just a Sprint. But they told me it’s a starting point. It’s my first win in a Sprint and it’s an important step. In Austria I already had a good weekend in terms of feeling, and here we repeated ourselves. But tomorrow is the most important day: we have to finish the 1042 days tomorrow, but we know that if the track is in better conditions, Bagnaia and Martin will be closer. So I’m happy, but focused: I want to finish the job tomorrow”, Marquez told Sky Sport MotoGP.
Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Up to now on the ups and downs of Spain he has really seemed to be in another category, so he was asked what is the key that is allowing him to feel the effects of a new asphalt that offers little grip, especially on the front, much less than his opponents.
“It’s a mix of factors: it’s a track that I like, with lots of left turns, and we found asphalt that seemed very good yesterday, but last night it rained sand, so this morning it was very dirty and it was very slippery. One of the things I struggle with this year is when the rear pushes on the front, but with this more slippery track I don’t feel it and so I can ride very easily. It’s one of the things that we need to understand in the next races and especially for next year,” explained Marquez.
With today’s victory, the Cervera rider has moved back to 75 points from the top of the world standings, but according to him it is still early to talk about his candidacy for the title: “I would like to be able to say yes. But one weekend does not make a World Championship. In the meantime, let’s try to finish the weekend in the best possible way, then we have to look for the consistency that Bagnaia and Martin have. I would like to be like Pecco, who maybe struggles one weekend, but then goes strong for another ten. This is what we have to work on, but we are still a bit far away. But we learn from race to race and try to fight with them”.
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