MotoGP | Marquez now dreams of the title: “We will push until it is mathematically certain”

Two drops of rain that make the difference: Marc Marquez can say it loudly, as on the sultry but grey Sunday at Misano he scored his second win of the season, his second consecutive win with the Ducati of the Gresini team. According to the eight-time world champion, the rain was “a gift from Fausto’s heaven”, but even without wanting to delve too much into romanticism, it can be said that the rider from Cervera has struck the champion’s blow.

Experience and the ability to take advantage of the strangest opportunities were the key to winning this San Marino Grand Prix, in which Marquez took advantage of the rain that shuffled the cards on the seventh lap to take the lead on the following lap. In the confusion of those who were coming back and those who were staying on the track riding on eggshells, Marc had the flash that allowed him to take the lead and never let go for the entire race.

“Was I the smartest? Yes, maybe even the most enterprising,” explained the Gresini rider. “In these conditions you have to value what you do, it takes a moment to fall, but I knew it was my moment of the race. I think that, from the sky, Fausto Gresini made these drops of rain fall to allow me to take this victory, it was the key moment to lead the race. But above all, at the head of the race we managed to keep up with Pecco and do fast laps in the race, this gives you even more confidence for the victory.”

Marquez defeated Bagnaia at home in Misano, relegating him to second place in Jorge Martin’s disaster race, who made a mistake in strategy and took only one point. Thus, Marc is getting closer in the championship, where he pays 53 from the leader Martin and 46 from Bagnaia: “A week ago we were further away, now we are closer with this result, but we continue with the same mentality. If I want to fight for the title, I cannot make mistakes in practice, I have to qualify in the first, second row at most on the grid because we cannot hope for drops of rain every Sunday”.

“Yesterday we saw that we had pace, but in the Sprint I was fifth. Today, without the rain, I would have been fourth or fifth anyway. We are closer, yes, but those who are 50 points ahead are them. Even if they make mistakes, they are still 25 points ahead. We will continue to push until it is all mathematically certain, but at the moment this thing about the title does not obsess me,” continued Marc, who now no longer hides and knows he can dream.

This second victory of the season gives a boost of confidence to the Cervera rider, who feels his confidence slowly growing back: “At the moment I’m not interested in giving a psychological blow to the others, I’m interested in giving it to myself. Do I have confidence in myself? Of course, otherwise I wouldn’t win. But you also have to be realistic. I’m 50 points behind two riders, who are always there in front. If they make a mistake they stay ahead, if I make a mistake I collapse. This season I’m regaining the confidence that I lost in three or four years due to so many injuries. I’m building it and last week’s victory gave me a boost, this victory even more. Let’s see if we can still be so competitive and fight with the two roosters in the category, who are currently going faster”.

“We can’t forget that it’s the first year with this bike, with this technician and with this team. I’m discovering things, maybe in races like Assen or Silverstone we thought we were far away, but by changing just two or three things at the base you start to go fast. If we had found these things before, what could we have done? But it’s a bit of a penalty for this first year, just like there were some zeros in the race or in tests… Situations that don’t happen again in the second year,” explained the Gresini rider, who is really getting to know the Ducati.

Not only the bike, but also the team plays a fundamental role and Marc praised the team led by Nadia Padovani: “In Gresini many riders have won, but it’s not me who says it, the numbers say it. They have been a springboard for many riders. I think it’s a well-organized team that can fight for the world championship. I said it and I repeat it, for a satellite team it surprised me a lot”.