It wasn’t a simple year for Alex Marquez between retirements and injuries, but on the other hand it was also a season of redemption for the young Spaniard, because in 2023 those results arrived which, for various reasons, it had not been possible to achieve with Honda. On several occasions the youngest of the Marquez brothers had made it clear that his arrival at Ducati was almost a sort of bet on his career in MotoGP, but the arrival of certain results restored his confidence, also allowing him to achieve two victories over the course of the year.
In fact, after having imposed himself in the UK sprint, Marquez was also able to repeat himself in the Malaysian sprint, crossing the finish line with an advantage of over a second and a half over his rivals. Starting from the second row, the Spaniard immediately made a good move, which allowed him to overtake Martin at the first chicane and immediately get into battle with the two Ducatis of the official team.
After also overtaking Enea Bastianini, thus climbing to second place, Marquez attempted to complete the job by attempting an attack on Francesco Bagnaia on the second lap with a maneuver at the last corner. However, that attempt did not give the desired results due to an error in the downshifting phase, putting Martin back into the game, who had previously been behind him.
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing
“At that moment I made a mistake and, instead of taking it in second gear, I took the last corner in first gear. I wanted to attack, but this caused me to slide and I couldn’t get in as I would have liked. At that point it’s very easy to lose the front, so even if I had gone long, be patient, I would have tried later. I didn’t expect Martin to pass me and then on the straight he was a bit aggressive, changing the line, we even touched. But at that point I understood that I was faster than Bagnaia and I told myself that I had to try to attack him to set my pace before Martin attacked me”, explained the Spaniard from the Gresini team during interviews.
After having recovered the position from the Spaniard a few meters later, Marquez once again set out to chase the championship leader who, taking advantage of his opponents’ errors and duels, had in the meantime been able to build a small advantage. After having closed the gap to the top, the decisive lunge came on Bagnaia in turn nine halfway through the race, thus putting himself in a position to impose his own pace and attempt an escape. Although Martin tried to keep pace behind him once he overtook his rival for the title, Marquez managed to impose a pace that was unattainable for anyone, passing under the checkered flag with over a second and a half ahead.
“It’s not easy to fight against two players who are competing for the world championship. I’ve been on the other side in Moto3 and Moto2 fighting for the world championship and I know that pressure. Today I tried to make an overtake and I seemed to have margin, so that if I made a mistake or went long I wouldn’t take anyone out. I attacked at the right time, in the right corner, everything perfect. I honestly didn’t expect to make this difference today in the sprint,” added the Spaniard.
![Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing](https://cdn-5.motorsport.com/images/mgl/2eAaDeb2/s1000/alex-marquez-gresini-racing-1.jpg)
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing
After having imposed himself in the sprint, there is clearly also great confidence for tomorrow’s race, also because Marquez believes that some set-up choices were aimed more at the distance of Sunday’s race rather than the short one like in Saturday’s race: “Honestly , was more positive for the long race than for the sprint. In the sprint I expected to fight with Bagnaia and Martin, but not to make a difference, because with ten laps I thought the tire would drop a little less and it’s very difficult to make a difference with riders who almost have the same bike as you.”
“It was surprising. Then it’s true that in this morning’s free practice I had a very good race pace, around 59.3 or 59.4, with a medium tire used on the rear for 19 laps. That’s why he was more positive for the long race, but after what happened today, I’d say we can be positive. We will have a good opportunity, but we have to be as focused as today to make mistakes,” explained the Gresini team rider, who thus achieved his third overall podium this season.
In Malaysia the risk of rain is always around the corner but, after the pace shown in the sprint, Marquez would like a dry race: “I should be fine [in caso di pioggia]. But in the wet there are always a lot of unknowns and when you have this pace, the dry is better.”
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