English
Italiano
Seeing Marc Marquez so far behind at Mugello has a strange effect. The five-time world champion dreams of redemption in Italy after his crash in Le Mans, but he is off to a rather silent start. The rankings at the end of the day place him 14th, although we should point out that he did not use a qualifying tyre in the finale.
“Today I focused mainly on race pace, working with the medium tyre on the front and rear in FP1 – he revealed – I must say that I was not very fast, but some small steps forward were made in the afternoon with the hard. Obviously, I did not use the soft rear and that is why I am farther behind. Tomorrow we’ll try to take a step forward.”
Marquez prefers not to make any daring predictions, but if he had to, he already knows who he would bet on.
“At the moment it is hard to make an assessment on race pace. We are working on the tyres and the chassis architecture. Pedrosa is definitely very strong from this point of view and he will be one of the favourites for Sunday.”
The Spaniard has the situation under control.
“There is plenty of margin for improvement since I need more confidence with the front - he analysed - The new hard tyre helps, but at the same time I need to figure it out in more detail. In fact, I am still not at the limit as I would like to be.”
So Marquez keeps up morale.
“I am only six tenths from the leader and that is not bad as a start in view of the race on Sunday.”
However, there is an aspect that he is curious about, namely the new Michelin tyre that was voted in by the majority in France.
“Unfortunately, with the medium tyre we suffer more on the right side than we do with the hard. We can’t complain. The only thing to do is to adapt to the situation and keep working.”
At Mugello there is an extra rival and the five-time world champion is well aware of this.
“The Ducati is very fast here and has very good chances. Right now, Dovizioso seems to be faster than Lorenzo.”
The weekend has still not been written for the Honda rider. The hope is that the music will change very soon.
“On Friday the riders try to sacrifice the tyres a lot. Tomorrow morning the conditions will be good and I am confident that the times will drop. Right now we are battling, not with our sights set on the win, but rather on a podium finish.”
If Marquez is struggling, in the Honda camp, Dani Pedrosa is shining. The Spaniard confirms the moment by filing away the day with the seventh time in the combined standings. Number 26 has quite an impressive pace.
“I was able to be very fast, although the Ducatis are really competitive. Today I worked on the tyres and race pace, but there is still a lack of grip, although I am having a hard time understanding why. In any case, we are working for tomorrow, especially for the qualifiers, which will be fundamental.”
Mugello is a round where Dani is focused on consistency.
“We are working hard, well aware that it will be an important race. I will need to avoid making the mistakes I made in the last qualifiers.”
Why is that? And yet, the track here is very wide, which favours overtaking.
“Why should I have to start from the back if I have the opportunity to be up front (he smiles)? On this track slipstreams will be important, being aware that lap times will need to be improved. We’ll need to keep a close eye on Pirro. He has a lot of experience here.”
His last comment concerns the new tyre.
“There is a different sensation, but I am working to adapt and become more familiar with it. Obviously, some riders preferred the previous tyre, but now we just need to find the right confidence, trying to get the best performance from it.”
