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Marquez had admitted yesterday that he was not at the level of the leaders in Buriram, but it was hard to believe him. His pace was good, but not good enough to stay with those who fought it out for the podium in the Sprint. The 'wood medal' of 4th place was the right result, in Marc's opinion.
"Little by little I see things more clearly," explained the Team Gresini rider, "I told myself I would sign up to do 1'29.1 in qualifying because it would have been a front row time, I didn't do it but I was still on the second row. Starting 5th is a good position and I was 2nd in the third corner. I thought I would finish 3rd, with Bagnaia and Martin ahead of me, but I didn't expect Bastianini. We know how strong Enea is when he is on his day and I think he will be tomorrow too, so I will try again to finish 4th."
With the GP23 is it not possible to do anything else against the more updated Ducatis?
"There is no secret, the longer you use the lowerer on the track the more difference there is and this is one of the circuits where you keep it on for more seconds. How many? I prefer not to count! (laughs)"
Coming out of the first corner you came very close to contact with Martin.
"I just saw it again on TV, we were very close. He came back very optimistic in the line, he had room to do it later, but I saw he went wide and decided to go a little more to the right. If I hadn't, we would have touched. We were lucky."
What did you think of Martin's comeback in the Sprint?
"To me it seemed to go well, but I think to Bagnaia it seemed the opposite (laughs). They are fighting for the title, Jorge had a bad start and Pecco was in front, but he couldn't catch Bastianini. Martin passed him and Bagnaia could not counterattack. Martin gained more than two points today. I won't add anything else."
Do you think in the long race Bagnaia can fight back?
"He made a good pole and I think Pecco will be very strong tomorrow, however, I'm betting on Bastianini."
You also seem to have a good pace on used tires, Martin pointed out.
"My pace is good when I ride alone. In the Sprint, behind the other riders, I had to change my riding style, I gain a little bit with the slipstream on the straights, but then I'm less comfortable on the rest of the circuit. It's the opposite of what used to happen to me with the Honda. It will depend on the pace you keep, today I did my pace, what I had in practice, but the others went faster. I don't think with the hard tire it will change because I lose too much in the first half of the track. If I try to put a patch on all the laps, I end up crashing. Sometimes you have to understand the limits and try not to make mistakes. Tomorrow we will see a good battle between Bagnaia and Martin because they are both very fast and Pecco has to take a risk. If he wants to get to Valencia with any chance, he has to get ahead of Jorge tomorrow."
Today the eight Ducatis finished ahead of everyone.
"I've always said that Ducati is the best bike on the grid and will be the best bike in the next two years. That's why I took this path."
What would you prefer between now and the end of the year: 3rd place in the championship or another win?
"I prefer another win."
Where is it most likely, Valencia?
"Yes. Sepang is one of the worst circuits for me, but it might rain (laughs). Joking aside, maybe in Valencia I will have another opportunity, although it will be difficult."
