MotoGP | Marquez: “I surrendered to Bastianini, he was very fast!”

First GP23 at the finish line, fighting for the podium and constantly in the top positions: Marc Marquez’s adaptation to the Ducati seems to be decidedly good and this is also demonstrated by the long race of the Italian Grand Prix. Third for most of the laps, the eight-time world champion was outwitted at the end by an enlightened Enea Bastianini and settled for fourth position.

Off the podium in the long race after second place in the Sprint, the Gresini standard bearer was able to contain himself, aware both of the limitations of his bike compared to the GP24 and of Bagnaia’s excessive power, uncatchable today: “We know what our current position is and we know that Pecco is very strong here. But once again we were very, very close to the GP24s. We fought for the top and I enjoyed it, overall I’m happy with the weekend.”

“The good thing about Ducati is that they were very clear with me before I signed with Gresini, which is why I never complain. I know what I have, I know what this package will have and we make the most of what we have. But when we see the bikes on the track, the performances are not very different, in each race we are closer and closer to Pecco and Martin, who are the most consistent, and this time Bastianini. We continue to work because the two bikes are not that far apart”, explained Marquez, who is nevertheless satisfied with the result.

The highlight of a not particularly exciting race was the duel between Marquez and Enea Bastianini, with the latter author of a forceful overtaking that relegated the eight-time world champion to fourth position: “In the race I stayed behind Bastianini, I tried to overtake him, but it was impossible. At the end I also had a very worn rear tyre, then I passed him and the pace was good, so I tried to catch Martin. But in the last two laps Bastianini ran as if he had practically new tyres. He was extremely fast. So I gave up. It was the day to finish fourth and in three weeks we will have another race.”

“Bastianini was very fast in the last corner, I was also going well, but he didn’t make a single mistake. He braked late, I was behind him for the whole race, so the temperature of the front rose, as did the pressure. I tried to break away a little, but when braking into Turn 1 both tires slipped. So I told myself that falling once is fine, but not twice,” he explained.

In the current MotoGP, the concept of tires overheating when in a group is now repeated like karma. This was also the case for the Gresini standard bearer, who had two smokes when leaving Bucine. No problem with the bike, just a question of the tyres: “Smoking? There was overheating of the tire. Starting fourth and having three bikes in front didn’t help, on the contrary. But this didn’t influence performance, the GP23 is limited compared to the 2024 bike, we’re always very much at the limit.”