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Celebration postponed. At Sepang Marc Marquez had his first shot at a match point, but instead, Dovizioso’s success, favoured by Lorenzo, kept the world championship games open until Valencia. The Spaniard had to draw consolation from a valuable fourth place, giving Honda the manufacturer title.
“These were the worst conditions today – number 93 began – The track was very slippery; plus, I preferred avoiding pointless risks. The Ducatis were very fast – he admitted – Maybe I could have caught Zarco, but going to the final race with a 21 or 24-point advantage doesn’t change much.”
There is a touch of disappointment on the Spanish rider’s face, but he had other priorities.
“Obviously I am disappointed, but at the same time I feel relieved because I was able to finish a long and complicated race with various treacheries. At the beginning perhaps I took a few risks – he recalled – since I wanted to break away from the group. In those cases it is always dangerous and there is always some contact.”
Then Marc had a bit of déjà vu.
“It is a situation that reminds me of 2013 – he pointed out – On that occasion, I went to Spain with a much smaller advantage than the one I have now. I’ll need to be competitive from the start in Valencia, maintaining the same mentality I always have since I cannot afford to relax.”
His final comment has to do with Lorenzo’s management of the race in the last five laps.
“As I have already said on several occasions, my fate is in my hands – he emphasised – I don’t know if there were team orders or not in the Ducati camp. When you are a professional rider like Jorge and the team is battling for the World Championship, you already know what to do and how to behave. I think that it is normal. I just need to continue on my own path.”
Marc Marquez finished ahead of his teammate, Dani Pedrosa. However, don’t be fooled by the Spaniard’s fifth place after starting from pole position.
“I have struggled in the wet throughout the triple-header – he recalled – When it began to rain, I thought I would finish last. I used a completely different bike with a soft tyre – he explained – but I struggled too much on the straight. I slid around and I wasn’t able to be as fast as I wanted to be.”
However, there is an encouraging aspect.
“I think I was competitive on corners – Pedrosa commented – Plus I was able to start well. I definitely learned a lot in this race – he concluded – also because many other bikes struggled compared to Friday with the same tyres, so fifth place is good.”
