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Is the glass half full or half empty? That's the dilemma Marc Marquez faced. To have started 9th and finished the race 5th is a small feat in Misano, where overtaking is complicated, to say the least. On the other hand, without the fall in qualifying, he could've probably aimed for the podium.
It took the Spanish rider to break the deadlock: "There are two readings," he explained. "If I were unambitious, I'd say that finishing fifth by starting nineth is a good result, because this is a circuit where it's difficult to overtake, but I'm self-critical, and I ruined my weekend in qualifying with an error. Starting from the third row penalizes you a lot. It happened today in the sprint, and it's going to be the same tomorrow. At least I saved things with a fifth place. That mistake cost me power to fight for the podium."
Making a comeback means saying you're always there?
"I'm not in that situation. The messages are sent by those in front, those who win. For me, one point or less makes no difference, but I'm ambitious, and I always try to surpass those in front of me."
Like you did with Acosta.
"It's one of the points where you go very fast, more than 250 miles per hour. I was preparing to overtake at turn fourteen, because I was faster than him, but he made a slight mistake. His bike moved, and he definitely had to close the throttle a little bit. I took advantage of that and then used some experience to defend my position."
What about overtaking Binder?
"It was more difficult, because Brad didn't make any mistakes. At one point, on the way in, I thought 'either I stop the bike or we go to Race Direction'," he said laughing. "I didn't do anything intentional, but my front locked up slightly, and I had to let off the brake. If you have a similar pace than the rider in front of you, it's practically impossible to overtake on this circuit. If you want to succeed you have to do it that way."
What's the most important aspect of today?
"The important thing is that I'm fast. I feel at ease, and I have a pace similar to the riders in front, the top four. But small mistakes are what I want to avoid between now and the end of the year. Today, I made one on the lap I shouldn't have made and I need to improve."
Why did you fall in qualifying?
"I came out eight kilometers per hour, faster than the first turn, at fifteen. I bent the bike a little faster to enter fifteen and fell, even if I was on the right trajectory. To tell you the truth, the mistake originated in the last free practice session where I had lapped with a tire that had twenty-eight laps on it. With a new one, the speed and references change so much, and I went down."
What did you think about Martin's victory?
"Jorge did everything perfectly. He started fourth, put himself first, and won.He's working on his regularity. Today he commanded the race from start to finish and tomorrow, whoever is in front at the first corner, will be the one to win, because it is practically impossible to overtake. I was half a second faster than the riders ahead of me, that's why I was able to pass them, but it was impossible for Bagnaia to overtake Martin. It's a combination of areodynamics, high temperatures. When you're behind someone you have to brake earlier and, even then, you stop the bike only at the last minute. In Austria, the slipstream helped, but it's the opposite here."
