Between the two litigants, there is a third who enjoys it. At least for now. Alex Marquez was the surprise of the second free practice session of the MotoGP Malaysian Grand Prix which took place this morning, setting the absolute best time in 1’57″823, 174 thousandths of a second faster than Jorge Martin.
The time, which arrived in the last part of the session, made Alex happy, who found himself facing a good Friday, without having to make too many changes to the bike to bring it closer to his riding preferences.
“So, this Friday wasn’t the simplest of the season, but it was certainly the most natural from the start. Everything is much simpler when your basic set-up works from the first lap on Friday, because then you focus on the improvement of things and driving style and you can look for the limits. Everything was easier for this reason.”
“We must be satisfied, we had an excellent day, but the bar should not be lowered. We must continue to work with the same mentality, improve things in view of the race, the electronics to try to get to the end a little better with the tyres. We hope that tomorrow, together with Martin, we will continue to be the fastest.”
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing
Today’s results obtained by Alex Marquez – second time in the morning, first in the afternoon – rightfully place him among the candidates to win the Sprint race scheduled for tomorrow’s Malaysian afternoon. Even on Sunday, however, he could be among the great protagonists and his objective is clear: to win even if he will have to fight with those fighting for the title.
“I have to win. I have a contract with Gresini Racing and at the moment nothing has been told to me,” he explained regarding possible team orders. “Maybe in some cases you race with more respect. I played for a title too and I don’t like it when an ‘outsider’ comes along and ruins everything for you because they want to win.”
“So I understand the situation. Martin is fast, Pecco perhaps has something more. But if I found myself in that situation, or in a position to win, I would try.”
Today’s result is not the result of the tests carried out before the season, but of the set-up found in the September tests carried out in Misano Adriatico. Meanwhile today he had to deal with… his brother. Marc took his lead to try to get into Q2: “Marc was behind me to try to get into Q2 and I didn’t expect it.”
“This makes me angry,” he says, laughing. “He could have told me. But no problem. Furthermore, on the last lap Luca Marini also took my wheel and that’s how it went. Today my goal was to get into Q2 in the best possible way. I didn’t care who was behind me.”
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