The Japanese Grand Prix did not start with the best conditions for Marc Marquez, forced to chase trying to stay close to the two big favourites, Pecco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin. Although the two title contenders once again made the difference, the Gresini team rider saved the weekend by finishing on the podium in both races.
Third in the Sprint, he replicated the result on Sunday in Motegi, a somewhat unexpected result considering the starting position. It is known, in the current MotoGP, starting from the back-up positions complicates the race, but Marc achieved another comeback from ninth place which allowed him to easily get onto the podium: “It was a very boring race, with no overtaking, only keeping the pace. But I’m happy, with the medium rear tire I didn’t feel as comfortable as I did with the soft yesterday in the Sprint, but today it was too risky to use the soft. It was a difficult weekend, but we got back on the podium.”
The final third position is even more satisfying for Marc, who at the start of the race had to deal with a brake problem that had already occurred on other occasions: “It’s true that in the first laps in the group the brake problem recurred, which makes it unpredictable. what will happen. Some riders passed me because I couldn’t brake where I wanted, it was a nightmare. Then I passed Brad Binder and managed to be consistent, but by then the first two were already far away.”
Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing Team
Photo credit: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
In a race with little spectacle and almost no overtaking, the most exhilarating moment was the fight on the edge of a thousandths with Enea Bastianini for third position. If in the Sprint it was the Ducati rider who had the upper hand, today it was Marc’s turn to mock the Romagna rider: “Did I take revenge on Bastianini? The only difference compared to yesterday is that I started the battle from the front. Whoever starts in front in the current MotoGP wins, because the rider behind overheats the tire and today I was lucky to be able to overtake several riders in the first laps and place myself in third position. I tried not to move too far from the leaders to attack and when I tried to launch another attack, I made a mistake. Luckily, I just went wide. But this third position is satisfactory, because we saw the difference with fifth, who remained at 17 seconds.”
With Bagnaia and Martin making the difference over everyone else, Marc Marquez sees himself out of the fight for the world championship. However, the outcome is far from certain and the eight-time world champion believes that the mistakes we have seen so far will not be the last between now and the end of the season: “The two of them are bringing out the best of They. They increase the intensity of the category by one point and I think that if they continue like this, one of the two will make mistakes again. I will definitely be wrong! But, speaking from a title perspective, it is difficult to maintain this level in all the races without making a mistake. Martin favorite? I continue to have this opinion, because today he started 11th and it was difficult. He handled it very well, but starting from the back is tough.”
#MotoGP #Marquez #Revenge #Bastianini #started #duel #front