In a qualification characterized by the new record lap of Jorge Martin and the 2nd place of Enea Bastianini – as well as the fall in the final of Francesco Bagnaia – the front row of the Grand Prix of Malaysia was completed by Marc Marquezauthor of 3rd time riding his Honda. A result, that of the six-time MotoGP champion, however incomprehensible to the Spaniard, especially due to the difficulties accused by the RC213V during free practice and the fight for pole position itself. Interviewed by Sky Sport MotoGP at the end of the session, number 93 admitted all the problems encountered, such as to make this outcome inexplicable, again according to the words of Marquez: “I don’t know how I did that ride – has explained – all the Hondas are looking for the slipstream this weekend because we are losing a tenth on the short straight, and a tenth and a half on the main straight, which is why we are trying to catch the slipstream. In this case we always manage to recover a lot. After Pecco’s fall in front of me I did the whole tour by myself and i also got the time but i don’t know how i did it. With the pace in FP3 and FP4 we are 14th or 15th, but I succeeded and I’m happy. Then for tomorrow we will see what will happen ”.
Speaking of the slipstream used by Marquez behind his rivals’ bikes, the Spaniard openly admitted that he had put himself behind Bagnaia to get lower times, denying that he was violating the regulation: “Honestly, I wait for Bagnaia when he comes out of the pits – he added – because the Ducati has a crazy engine and we need the wake a lot. If I had that engine I would go it alone, but I don’t have it now. And so, I always have to try my best respecting the rules, but going to the limit. I wait for Bagnaia to leave, I get behind him, but I don’t disturb him. To disturb is to do as Morbidelli did in FP3, but I get behind with a certain gap of 3 tenths or half a second, because so if something is wrong in front of me I don’t run any risks. It is the only way on this track for Honda, but respecting the regulations, while being at the limit. In competitions you have to try to do 100% with what you have available. The race will be difficult and long. We are not in bad shape, but in the conditions of being in a position between 10th and 8th place. Today we saw two identical bikes from the outside, but in reality they are different. We are working in a special way, but we will only get the race pace by fighting with the bike, which is why I get very tired physically and I can’t ride like when I do the flying lap ”.
In conclusion, the Honda rider wanted to clarify the choice of tires used in Australiataking full responsibility for the decision: “To Phillip Island I had made the decision to use the softwhile still respecting the team. In Japan it was the team that wanted the soft, and it was the right choice, while in Australia it was me, but if you look at the Michelin data it was the tire that went better ”.
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