Marc Marquez is anticipating additional challenges as MotoGP begins its Asian tour and travels to distant circuits. Despite his recent strong performances, the Gresini rider is battling for the championship on a Ducati GP23, while his direct rivals Jorge Martin, Pecco Bagnaia and Enea Bastianini are on the newer GP24 version.
Marc Marquez thus spoke of the difficulties he encountered with a motorcycle from a previous generation: ”
I mean, it’s been like that all year, especially in this last part of the season. I won two races, but in special conditions. At Misano 2 the grip was super good and I had more difficulties than at Misano 1 where the temperatures were higher and the track slower.. »
Mark also pointed out that, despite his efforts to maintain a competitive pace, he suffered two falls while trying to push the bike to its limit: ” I felt more comfortable. But as I was trying to pace myself, I fell twice. So that gave me the answer that I was not ready.. So we came back and finished this race in fourth position and we will see what we can do in the next races.. »
For the Spanish driver, the difference in performance between the versions GP23 and GP24 is a constant challenge, especially when it comes to making up the last tenths of a second in the race: ” That’s why I keep saying the same thing: if I want to fight for the championship in the future,
I still have to improve to find that last half-tenth, one tenth, two tenths that sometimes make the difference at the end of the race.. »
Marc Marquez: ” Luckily for us, Pecco Bagnaia made a mistake and gave us a gift »
Marc Marquez admitted that his initial goal for the Grand Prix of Emilia-Romagna was to finish in fourth place, due to the difficulties encountered throughout the weekend, including an accident in
Q2 which relegated him to seventh place on the grid.
” I started the race with a clear goal, which was fourth place.. In fact, in the first part of the race, I was trying to control Pedro Acosta and Marco Bezzecchiwho were the two guys who had the pace to fight with me for that fourth place. I knew that taking a lot of risks would put me in fourth place, maybe four seconds behind the leader. Taking less risks would put me in fourth, eight seconds behind the leader. So, in the end, it was the same and that’s what we did. »
However, the fall of
Bagnaia at the end of the race allowed him to get on the podium, which he considers an unexpected “gift”: “ Luckily for us, Pecco made a mistake and gave us a gift and a place on the podium. I am happy that the team is once again on the podium at its home race.. »
With the victory ofEnea Bastianini during this Grand Prix, Marc Marquez has dropped back to fourth place in the
championshipbut remains at only
60 leader points, Jorge MartinThe Asian tour promises to be decisive for the rest of the season, and each race will be crucial to stay in the race for the MotoGP title.
