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Impossible to deny it, the news of the day was the return to the circuit of Marc Marquez, ready to take to the track about 72 hours after the operation he underwent to reduce the fracture in his right humerus. Consequently, the Spaniard was one of the most hotly-debated topics during the traditional Thursday press conference, even more so than Fabio Quartararo's Sunday victory.
The Frenchman himself was the first to deal with the subject, speaking of the desire of all riders to get back on track quickly. “It's not only about Marc; Alex and Cal are back. Cal also had surgery two days ago, so it’s quite amazing when you’re a rider, you want to come back as soon as possible. Surely, they’ll give their maximum with the pain they have and I’m happy for them to be back on track. I believe that everyone will focus on their goal, that is to do the best possible in each race without thinking about the others. "
More of less of the same opinion, Maverick Vinales said he was focused on the championship and aware of the importance of every single point. “In a championship with fewer races like this, every point is important. Currently the favourite for the title is Fabio since he won the first race, but we have to see the outcome of the next races. All the riders are not happy when they see a fellow rider get injured, in fact I was very happy when I saw Marc arrive at the track, and so it’s no point talking about a devalued championship or anything like that. "
The two Ducati riders Andrea Dovizioso and Jack Miller also spoke about the "validity" of the championship with or without Marquez, but with different words. "This year's championship is different but the rules are the same - explained Dovi - moreover it seems that Marc will already be on the track this weekend, so nothing has changed since before." "In my opinion, talking about a falsified championship or anything like that is a crock of … - added Miller - since we all started on the same Friday and injuries are part of the game".
The comment by the re-entering Alex Rins was also spicy when he too was asked about the return of his (never particularly loved) rival. "I think the injury was not so serious if he manages to get back on track a few days after the operation, apart from that we will see if he can do a good race or not. You talk a lot about Marc because he won a lot, and we are here to try to beat him. "
THE NEW RULE ON YELLOW FLAGS - VINALES: "MAYBE WE WILL NEED TO CHANGE STRATEGY"
Another topic of the day is the new rule relating to the display of yellow flags. From this GP, in fact, even a single yellow flag will force each rider to slow down, to avoid dangerous episodes such as the double close crashes of Miller and Rins. "We will have to pay attention to this new rule - explains Rins himself - because if a rider stops for any reason, even if not urgent, the others cannot complete the lap, but we will see how it will evolve".
More politically correct Andrea Dovizioso, who recognized the difficulty of making the right choice in these cases. "It is always difficult to agree on these rules. Certainly, I would be sorry about missing a lap for a yellow flag for something not particularly dangerous, so I think it would be better to make distinctions based on situations, but it is not exactly easy ".
Someone who has thought about possible counter moves is Maverick Vinales, who is already focussed on the weekend. “Maybe I will have to change my free practice for the new rule, and I will have to see when it is better to do my real time attack. Fabio for example did it twenty minutes from the end during FP3 of the first GP ".
