Marc Marquez arrived in Misano as the absolute dominator of the Aragon Grand Prix and everyone expected a confirmation on the Romagna track. Friday partly proved right those who expected the Gresini rider to be able to compete with the leading riders, at least in the battle of the stopwatch. Second in both free practice sessions, he earned direct Q2, making himself one of the favorites.
However, the eight-time world champion dampens the enthusiasm and reiterates that the absolute domination shown in Aragon is not the representation of the real situation. Marc’s real reference is Austria, where, despite not having won, he had shown excellent potential, closing the weekend with excellent sensations: “What I was looking for today were the sensations of the Red Bull Ring, not those of Aragon. Those conditions were not real, but I found the sensations of Austria. The special flavor comes from victories… I always go on the track with the same intensity, but with a different confidence. Today, one of the points of concentration was not to exaggerate and not to go beyond what I felt at any moment. But we are in Misano… It is not my fight at the moment”.
Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing
Photo credit: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
“We are practically in the same situation: there are two riders, Jorge Martin and Pecco Bagnaia, who are raising the bar and will continue to do so over the course of the weekend. We cannot forget about Enea Bastianini and Franco Morbidelli, who are going very strong here. At the moment we are fighting for the podium, but the victory is a bit missing. I should be cleaner and faster in T3, especially in the fast section between turns 11, 12 and 13. The strong point that I normally have, the famous four degrees of inclination, I also have here, but this time it is counterproductive. Then four little things that we are missing, but throughout the session I felt comfortable and I was always in front,” explained Marquez, going into detail about the areas in which he feels he is most lacking to get to play with the leaders.
What gives the rider from Cervera confidence is the awareness of confirming a good feeling. Marc’s gaze always goes to Austria and, according to him, that is the real yardstick also in terms of tyre wear: “At the Red Bull Ring we had a different carcass, so if I had had the same sensations here as in Austria, they would have been real. In Aragon the track was slippery, there had been a storm. Here there was the tendency I have had in the last races: I felt better with five or six laps on the tyre than with the new one”.
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