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MotoGP, Marquez: “I’m not podium material, but I have fun, that’s the most important thing”

“Qualifications went well … up until the last corner. To overcome the bike’s limits on the flying lap, I need a slipstream. I’ll take Ducati’s, they don’t need it!”

MotoGP: Marquez: “I’m not podium material, but I have fun, that’s the most important thing”

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In the end, Marc Marquez was left with a bitter taste in his mouth due to an 8th place in qualifying. After passing through Q1, the Spanish rider had only one chance, and a slight mistake didn’t allow him to get the most out it. But he can't spoil his morale right now because Marc keeps looking ahead.

The Q2s went really well ... up until the last corner,”  he said jokingly. “My strategy was perfect, and it’s not easy when you only have one new tire. At first, I mounted the worn one from the Q1s.

Then he continued talking about the corner.

I went out with the new tire, and I was behind some Ducati riders. They have the right bike, and they don’t need a slipstream,” he said smiling. “We started battling it out, and I did a good lap. I was very fast. But, at the last corner, I made a mistake, like what had already happened to me in the FP3. We know what happened. We’ll fix the problem for the race, but we weren’t able to do it for qualifications.”

Marquez still seems to need the right slipstream to improve his position on the flying lap.

With two new tires, you have more possibilities,” he stressed. “Throughout the weekend, I rode alone. In the FP2, I was in front of Quartararo and Bagnaia. In the FP3, in front of Miller. But our bike has limits. If I want to find something more, I have to find a way to be faster, and the slipstream always helps.”

He'll have time to think about the tenths and hundredths that are missing. Now Marc found something more valuable.

I feel something more, race after race. That’s the most important thing. My goal when I returned,” he said. “In the Misano tests, I was beyond the limit, my muscles were too weak, but now I continue to feel better and to control the bike more. I know that tomorrow I’ll feel worse than today, but also that I’ll be able to rest next week and progress even further. On Friday, I started play around with the bike, crossing with it in cornering and braking. I hadn’t done that in a long time. I like it.

So he doesn’t even care if it rains tomorrow or not.

I don't care,” he clarified. “I feel okay on the dry asphalt, not enough to end up on the podium, but I'm having fun. Today I’m eighth, but I started to have fun, to recuperate some small mistakes, and this is the most important thing for me. If it’s wet, it’ll be all open, but a dry race would help me more to improve my physical conditions.

 

Translated by Leila Myftija
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