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Marc Marquez's decision to leave the official Honda team to join Gresini's Ducati, a satellite team, left many stunned. It was a card that few thought he would play, but now it is on the table and next season will be one of the most important for the Spanish champion who, on a competitive bike, will have the chance to demonstrate to others and to himself how much he is still worth. Choosing, however, wasn't easy and there was some advice that helped him, as Marc himself said in an interview with Peter McLaren for crash.net.
“The best advice was to think of yourself – he explained – Only think of yourself because I'm the kind of person that most of the time, I'm thinking more about the people around me, than myself. I prefer to see the happiness of the people around me, the team, than myself. But then the best advice was ‘think of yourself’. It was difficult, but we will see if it's the good choice.”
In recent weeks it has been said that Marquez would race for free next year, which he has denied.
“Sometimes in your life, but always in my career, my main priority was the riding performance. Not the money. Money always is important. And if somebody says it isn’t, they will be lying. But sometimes you need to believe in yourself and follow what you feel – he underlined - It’s not true that I will race for free and nobody really knows what my salary is now at Honda. But next year still I will be super happy with what I have.”
Getting on a Ducati is a chance for Marc to reach Valentino Rossi's 9 world titles.
“At the moment, I'm not thinking about matching that record because I'm far from my level – he said – And I cannot approach next season like, ‘I will try to win the title’. It's already two years that I'm not winning a single race. First of all, I need to build the confidence, to build the base and then from that base start to be faster and try to improve in the future.”
The question everyone is asking is: will we see the same Marquez again as before the 2020 accident?
“So right now, for physical condition, I feel OK. Mental side, I'm not the same – was his response – I’m more mature but, right now, less convinced on the racetrack. Why? Because we are struggling more and in that period, I was winning nearly every weekend, or fighting for the podium. Then you have a lot of confidence in yourself. Now, after a difficult moment where you think you performed in a good way but the results never arrived, you don't have the same confidence. But we are working for it.”
Hence the decision to sign a one-year contract.
“I have a one-year contract because in that year I need to understand many things for myself. If I enjoy it again, of course that will be the best news – said Marquez – Success in this move doesn't mean wins. It means trying to be in those top positions of course - in some races, maybe not in every race. We will see. But for me success means enjoying it again on the riding style and having again those butterflies in the stomach to ride a MotoGP bike.”
