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That Marc Marquez would be in the game at Phillip Island was clear right from the first free practice sessions. With its left turns, uncertain asphalt conditions and a track that lends itself to the talent of the Spaniard, who first won here in 125 back in 2010, it was therefore no mystery that his rivals were keeping a wary eye on him. The excellent qualifying that saw him start 2nd on the front row immediately raised expectations for what could have been the third victory of the season for the Spaniard, but as has happened in the past the multiple winner likes to complicate his life, or perhaps he has taken a liking to putting on a show by making comebacks to the limit.
A mistake at the first corner and going wide made him fall back to eighth position, from there a comeback that in a few laps saw him battle fairing against fairing with the GP24 of Bagnaia. A second place at the checkered flag behind an unassailable Jorge Martin, who not surprisingly said he "breathed a sigh of relief" at not seeing his compatriot immediately on his heels. With the medal around his neck he celebrated by mistaking with the hand sign his own finishing position, the podiums are now mounting up since his arrival on the Ducati and it is legitimate to get confused, even for a champion like him. Tomorrow it will be the turn of the long race, but there are still some unknown factors surrounding the choice of tires and the track conditions, but no one seems to have any doubts about a competitive Marc Marquez at this point.
"Normally at the first corner you brake differently," Marc began, "you come in hard, but Jorge braked really aggressively thanks to the lowering device and it was something I hadn't considered, so when I reacted it was too late and to avoid contact I went wide. That little mistake plus the strong wind cost me a lot of positions at the start of the race and the opportunity and chance to fight for the win, as I've said before I like to complicate my life. However, I have to be honest, Jorge was slightly faster today, but I still managed to finish a good race. It's ironic, when I make mistakes in qualifying I salvage the race, when I do well in qualifying I make a mistake in the race, but tomorrow we will have another opportunity."
Who do you see among tomorrow's rivals?
"If like Martin you have almost a one-second lead in qualifying it means you have more. If you close the race with seconds to spare you have proven that. We'll see what happens tomorrow."
With these Ducatis, if you get the setup right from Friday into the weekend you have a big advantage.
"I don't agree, Martin has always been an explosive rider, even last year he could have won here if he hadn't made a mistake in tire choice."
There was also a good duel with Bagnaia, which you got the better of.
"He was very precise, hard on the brakes and fast on the line, so it was not easy to overtake him."
There was little time to work on the bike setup in the dry, are you ready for tomorrow's race?
"The problem is that no one knows what the second part of the race will be like, however, it's true for the setup we haven't had much time. Today I did some tests during qualifying but it is difficult during that session. The key tomorrow will be the management of the second half of the race, a wrong tire choice would cost many seconds in the last laps."
In some parts of the track you make a difference compared to your rivals.
"Yes, but to make it I am using the rear tire and it shows. You can do it in some laps but not in all, otherwise you don't finish the race. It's clear that to make overtakes you have to use the rear tire, but for tomorrow I hope I can make a better start than I did today, have a better first lap and approach the first half of the race differently."
Tire choice also remains an unknown factor, does the soft remain a viable option?
"That's a big question mark, because its life is 15 laps. The problem is that here when the tire drop happens it doesn't cost you 1 or 2 tenths, but a second a lap. We saw this last year so management will be a key point in tomorrow's strategy. Unfortunately, though, I haven't had a chance to test the medium well yet."
Did you get a chance to see the incident between Bezzecchi and Vinales?
"I haven't seen the replay yet but they told me what happened. At first glance it may look like a Bezzecchi mistake, but it could also be a Vinales mistake, I would call it a racing incident. I remember in 2017 being in the same situation, Zarco overtook me and the wind pushed me out. With this wind and these aerodynamics you don't want to be in front of the rider you're overtaking because the slipstream sucks the rider behind, it's better not to be in that position because it can be dangerous for the rider in front as well. But I think today the wind was blowing sideways in that sector, and Vinales couldn't avoid being in that spot, as Bezzecchi also couldn't avoid the effect of the slipstream. It was an unfortunate episode but let's not forget that at the end of the straight we are at 320kmh, the bike is shaken by the wind and the aerodynamics, for me it's a racing accident."
