English
Italiano
Marc Marquez is going to have to do something really special in Austria to try to hang on to the small train of riders aiming for the 2024 title. It has never been an easy feat, but certainly the Marquez we have seen on track in the last few races is not the same as he was at the start of the season, or at least his GP23 is starting to feel even more than before the gap to the three GP24s ahead of him in the standings, and Marc simply cannot make enough of a difference to close that gap.
The zero at Silverstone in the Sprint took a toll on the standings, causing him to drop from 3rd to 4th, because now in third is Enea Bastianini, who thanks to his double win in Britain has relaunched himself in the title race. In Austria Marc has some good memories, but it is also the track on which he picked up several defeats on the last lap.
"I lost three times here on the last lap," he recalled in the conference, "It's a track I really like, on which I've always ridden well. Now I'm riding the best possible bike at the Red Bull Ring, which is the Ducati. But whoever is beside me today in the conference rides the same bike as me and today all three are faster than me, so I would say I have to keep pushing and learning to try to close this gap."
Who would you rather face in a last-lap duel here?
"I wouldn't want to fight Enea, because he is always so strong in the last laps. I wouldn't say anyone, because at the moment I honestly don't feel ready to fight until the last lap with any of these three riders, but I will try. During the weekend I'm a step ahead, we've seen it in the last GPs and we know we have to take a real step forward, especially to be able to fight with Martìn and Pecco, who at the moment have the consistency to always be in front."
In 2025 you will be in Bagnaia's team. It will be different than in the past for you.
"Yes, it will be a new experience for me. I used to be the one who had to defend against the incoming riders, like Lorenzo and then Mir. They were both champions, but it was a different situation because I was the one who knew the bike best. In 2025 it will be a very different experience for me because Pecco is the reference of Ducati, he has the number 1 on his head. I know I will have to learn a lot from him, although I already have all his data, but when you are in the same box everything changes. I hope we can help each other, we are both very competitive and this I think can help us raise the level in the box. When you have two very strong riders in the box, I think they help each other. I see it as a healthy competitiveness, which can help."
Here you will have a different tire on the rear (it should be more resistant to high temperatures, ed.), do you think you can take advantage of it?
"It will be interesting, because it will be the first time we use this tire in 2024. I had suffered a lot with it in the past with Honda. I wouldn't know what to say now, because here we know that tire wear is very high, but I also know that we will need to find a way to get the most out of the bike in acceleration, which is its strong point here."
You are in the middle of the season the rider with the most crashes in MotoGP, what does that depend on?
"It's true that in the first part of the season I crashed many times and often it was simply my fault. But in the last few races I had some crashes that were not my fault, and that took away some of my confidence. But now I'm working again to look for the limit in my usual way. At least they were crashes that happened mostly in free practice. In the race I crashed at Silverstone in the Sprint. I'd certainly like to crash less, but at the moment it's not a number I think about much."
Does the fact that you have a GP23 affect it?
"I think I have a very good bike, with which it is possible to do very well. I don't think it's fair to say it depends on the bike, also because I have always been very critical of myself and today Pecco and Martìn are going stronger, they are a step ahead. Sometimes I arrive at a track and I feel good right away, already from Friday morning. Other times the basic set-up we start with on Friday, it doesn't work, like for example at Silverstone. We change little from one track to another, when I find a good base I know I can fight even with the riders who are fighting for the title, otherwise it is difficult."
We now know that VR46 will be the reference in Ducati as a satellite team. Would you have thought about going there?
"No, my option was the factory team or Gresini. I would not have gone from one satellite team to another. For me the level of Gresini Racing is very close to the factory level, so it would have been a good option to stay there by having a factory bike, but unfortunately I didn't get that chance. But I had another path for me that is the best one, which is the one that brought me to Ducati Factory."
Was there no other path for you? Will you have to give up Red Bull.
"No, because I'm at a point in my racing career where the only thing that really matters is to be in the right place to get the most out of the track, and that place today is the Ducati factory team. I have been with Red Bull since 2018 and I would have been happy to continue working with them. But now the keys are in Ducati's hands."
Can you tell us who is the most fearsome teammate you have had over the years?
"For me it was Dani Pedrosa, who is also the one I learned the most from. He is the one I learned the most from because I found him as my teammate in my MotoGP debut, but he was also the one I feared the most because in 2013 and 2014 he was so fast. The difference was there, but he was really strong. Jorge Lorenzo came in but he never got along well with the Honda, he came from a Ducati with which he also started winning, but in HRC it was different. I certainly respected him a lot as a rider, however, he didn't have the speed for me to fear him."
