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Given the great state of form shown in this season finale, Marc Marquez could tip the balance in the title fight between Francesco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin. On the back of the double success in Australia, the Spaniard of the Gresini team in fact arrives in Buriram with the goal of confirming himself in the fight at the top and aiming for a new success on the Thai track, where he already triumphed in 2018 and 2019.
"It will be difficult, especially because you always have to raise the bar to fight for victory with these two riders. Also because, when one is fighting for a World Championship you always have a little more speed than in a normal situation. But we have made progress, the last two races went very well, I was solid and fast enough to battle for the podium. We'll see if we can be in the fight here as well," Marc commented at the press conference.
The eight-time World Champion then gave his opinion on the title fight between Francesco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin.
"It's not an easy situation for either of them. From what I remember, it's not a position where you have fun but where you only suffer, because you know that in three races you will know whether you will be World Champion or not. Other than that, they are in very good shape and they are very fast. Obviously, Martin has a small advantage and Pecco will probably have to risk a little more to try to catch up, but he already knows how to win a championship, having won the last two. We will see. Pecco has more to lose than Martin in this fight," said the Spanish rider, before talking about the relationship between the two title contenders and former teammates in the Aspar team.
"I'm not interested. They have a good feeling, yes, but then if they have to give it to each other on the track they do. One thing doesn't rule out the other - he acknowledged - It's true that they never had any big confrontation on the track, but in the end they have a good relationship. They both know it will remain and when I then see them fighting on the track with each other they compete to the fullest."
The elder of the Marquez brothers is not afraid to play the role of third wheel and has no intention of going into it with kid gloves should he find himself having to overtake either rival.
"Of course not. I have enough experience to know how to handle the situation. In the end, whether it's the two title contenders or another rider, you never try to overtake thinking about hitting the other rider. Although sometimes you can't control that kind of thing. As we saw in Australia, I will try to be strong, have confidence in my potential and do my best. I'm fighting for third place in the World Championship, and while it's not first, it's still important for me," the Ducati man pointed out, "If I think about the fact that being in the middle I could help one of them? Also in 2015 I was in the middle and, in theory, I stole points from someone. You never know. You can't control this kind of thing. I will give 100 percent."
Confirming himself on the podium is precisely Marc's priority for this season finale.
"I have already achieved my main goals for this year, but you always want to end the season on a high note, so I will try to be consistently on the podium and if I can win another race, why not? We'll see what I'll be able to do, but I know where I can improve and where I need to work towards next year, so starting to do that already now will be a little help," he noted.
A podium Marc has seen consistently since Austria.
"It's the evolution you have in the first year with a bike and with a technician, because you learn about the little things. You get to a point where you get a little bit stuck and then you look for a few more little things. In Austria we went in a direction I didn't like, but if it wasn't for the engine failure in Mandalika, I would have been with the top two in terms of points in this second part of the season. But in a year there are 20 races and you have to be competitive in all of them," commented the Gresini rider, then talking about the impact a change of components had on his Ducati after the GP in Indonesia.
"It was very noticeable, what was expected. Ducati thought the cause was a particular part, and when the factory decides something, I as a rider follow it," he explained, "Once it's decided like that, there's no need to be thinking that they've taken this or that away from me, but that I'm going to lose at one point and gain at another, and the truth is that in the next two races I felt comfortable. I'm a little more uncomfortable in one aspect that I've complained about, but there are other strengths that then make up for it on the lap."
Asked about whether it surprised him that in Ducati all the riders have the same conditions and material, Marquez later said, "In Ducati there is a leader, a person who commands the boat and where you say to go you go. He is very clear in the guidelines that must be followed and especially in the conditions in which each team and each rider must be, which are the same. If he tells you one thing you know it will be that for the whole season, so that during the year there is no confusion and misunderstanding, but there is a clear direction."
The Ducati rider then commented on Andrea Iannone's return to MotoGP at Sepang: "It will be good to see Iannone there again, because we had some good battles in the past. Certainlyit will be difficult to get on a MotoGP bike for one race and be fast right away, after four years. But maybe Iannone is Superman and he can do it, because he is very talented."
Marc then concluded by returning to the issue of aerodynamic safety raised by the incident between Bezzecchi and Vinales in Australia.
"I commented on the incident right after the race, but I made a mistake because I spoke without having looked at the images properly. At the time I said it was a racing incident, but for me it wasn't: I think it was Bezzecchi's mistake because Maverick was already in front halfway down the straight. As it happened when Martin overtook me and he was already parallel to me before arriving at the braking point - he said - It's true that in the past a similar thing happened to me with Zarco when I overtook him under braking but we were in a group. The race direction made its decision. You can say it was the aerodynamics, but I think that maneuver would have ended the same way without it."
