In his last Grand Prix with Honda, Marc Marquez has extra motivation to try to get a good result. If possible a podium on Sunday, to be shared with his work team, his mechanics, his friends who have been with him for the last ten years at HRC.
The Catalan couldn’t have started the weekend better, placing himself among the fastest and qualifying for Q2. So far the plan has been respected and with the sensations he felt today he cannot rule out a podium. “If the race was tomorrow morning I wouldn’t rule it out, with the pace of the afternoon we could think of a top five, even a podium”, explained Marc at the end of the day.
“But I think that tomorrow everyone will start to go faster, already from FP1 to the Friday afternoon session there was a leap. I have always had the ability to reach the limit very quickly, and that’s what I did today in the two sessions , then I stayed there. Everything will depend on qualifying: if we have a good Q2, with today’s pace and intensity, we’ll see if we can do better than the last races”, he added.
The questions to Marc immediately turned to the fight between Pecco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin for the title, and to the Spaniard’s psychological warfare in the final part of the afternoon practice, in which the Italian remained out of Q2.
“Hello to Martin, and that’s all. It’s within the rules and the limit. I’m sure there will be those who say they don’t like it, but to win a World Championship you have to earn your living in any way possible. Martin this weekend is behind and what he has to do is try to destabilize Pecco in every way possible, always staying within the limit and the rules”, he said.
“And that’s what he did, or what they told me he did, because I didn’t see it, but I heard about it. It worked well and tomorrow Pecco will have more work to do. In the races Jorge will have to do the himself, and we’ll see how Bagnaia will behave. In the end this is motorcycling and whoever likes it is fine, whoever doesn’t like it is fine too”, he said energetically.
Photo by: Miquel Liso
Marc Márquez, Repsol Honda Team
Returning to a personal level, he was asked if he intended to give everything or if he would prefer to end the weekend on his Honda.
“I would like to finish the race, last year I said that either I would take everything or end up in the infirmary, and it ended badly. This year, in the race, anything can happen, we will take risks because everyone will go very fast, because Martin he will go very fast and everyone wants to go fast. I would like to finish the race, but if I didn’t finish it, the world wouldn’t end.”
When he was then asked if he will take advantage of the moment to try to win the Sprint or if he would prefer a podium on Sunday, he was clear.
“I prefer a podium on Sunday than winning on Saturday. I’m not saying that’s the goal, because ours is a critical bike, today all three Hondas crashed. So it’s not easy, but it’s what I would like.”
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