Although in conditions quite different from those of two weeks ago, Marc Marquez managed to take another podium on the Misano track, finishing the race behind Enea Bastianini and Jorge Martin facilitated by the fall of Francesco Bagnaia. It was one of the highlights of the Emilia-Romagna GP, along with the controversial overtaking move in Turn 4 with which Bastianini secured the GP victory.
"This time I'm enjoying myself as a spectator, because I've been in this situation before and it reminded me of the old days," Marc commented, giving his opinion on the incident: "I saw the replay and Enea failed to keep the bike within the limits of the track. So he should have given up the position."
Although he has been in Enea's situation on more than one occasion, the eight-time champion is in fact convinced that Race Direction should have taken action against the Rimini rider.
"I agree that that is the only way to overtake with these bikes, but the fact is that he went over the curb. That's where the problem arises - Marc explained - My point of view is the same as always: in motorcycle racing, and especially in the current MotoGP, if you have to overtake you have to do it that way, especially if you are so close. Bastianini did everything very well until he touched the blue, meaning he went over the curb and therefore off the track. If that had not happened, then nothing would have happened. The overtaking move was aggressive, but it was clean. It was borderline overtaking on the last lap. Enea passed me the same way at Assen. I went wide and I didn't say anything, because that's part of racing. But whoever overtakes must always stay inside the track. Once the tires are out, from my point of view, you lose a position. In the end, these are things that happen. It's simply a matter of having clear criteria on what can and cannot be done."
When pressed on whether it was a move in his style, Marc reiterated, "It's true that it's an overtaking move that I've done in the past, but if you go off the track or the other rider ends up on the ground, you get punished and it's always been like that. As I said, Bastianini's overtaking is clean and well done, as long as the wheels don't touch the blue."
Leaving the episode aside, the Team Gresini rider went on to analyze his race.
"Today I started the race thinking about fourth place, because I knew that by taking more or less risks I would still finish in that position, just with a bigger or smaller gap. I tried to control Acosta and Bezzecchi, who were the two riders who could fight with me for fourth, but then Pecco's mistake handed me the podium. I am happy to have obtained another podium and also for the team, since it is its home GP," he said.
Indeed, the Spanish rider is convinced that he would not have been able to get on the podium without Pecco's incident.
"This weekend the grip was great and I struggled more than last time, when it was warmer, the track was slower and I felt more comfortable. Yesterday when I tried to restart from that base I crashed twice and that made me realize that I was not ready this weekend. I took a step back, finished the race in third and then we will see in the next races," he noted, "If I want to fight for the title in the future I will have to improve a bit to find those last tenths that make the difference.
Speaking about the Piedmont rider's race performance, he added, "All I saw was that I was going to catch him lapping roughly on the 1'31"4 pace. But then I started losing more than half a second a lap. He started to push because he was felt like it, but being so on the limit he probably overdid it and crashed. In the first part of the race I was also not comfortable, then I got much better. I think it depends a lot on the set-up, the bike and the riding style, but Pecco set the track record, that means the tires are consistent this year."
A crash that could have some importance in the fight for the World Championship. "Obviously whoever is in the lead has a better chance than whoever is second, " Marquez concluded, "The favorite is Martin because he is ahead."