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Another round, and further domination by Marc Marquez. For sure, the weekend at Termas de Rio Hondo has just begun, but the eight-time world champion immediately wanted to set the record straight and prove that he is the man to beat. First in both sessions so far, he also beat himself by improving the previous track record of 1'37"683 to 1'37"295.
"Did everyone expect to see me in front? Me a little less - he told the press present - In the morning, the bike was not as predictable in its reactions, so we had to work harder than in Thailand because not having tested here, the set-up was not in line with my riding style, particularly in terms of engine braking."
"I'm sorry for my electronics guy who had an extra workload, however overall between free practice 1 and pre-qualifying we took a step forward, especially in terms of consistency. Tomorrow we will have to make one step more. The key will be to adapt to the track conditions, which I expect to get faster and faster," he continued.
"It had been six years since I had ridden in Argentina, so I showed up with no expectations. At the beginning I just tried to understand the reactions of the bike, but when I tried to push, the speed immediately came," he explained, then making a prediction about what will happen on Saturday regarding the lap time. "I don't know who, but tomorrow I really think it will come down to 1"36. If the circuit improves as we saw in Free Practice 2 I think it will be possible. My goal, however, is not to set record laps, but to get points and win races."
The plan for the rider from Cervera is clear, just as he seems to have no doubts about the names of his closest rivals: "Starting from the front row will be crucial. I see Alex in great shape, but also Bezzecchi, Di Giannantonio and Bagnaia even if he crashed. Ducati is notoriously strong here, but we will have to be careful with Aprilia."
About the technical changes made the 32-year-old instead revealed, "At the level of balance we haven't touched anything because it was going well, we intervened only on the electronics and for qualifying we will still change something, but for now the sensations are good. The gap on the others is never enough, but it is normal because we are in MotoGP."
The Spaniard gives the impression of being in a state of grace, however, as the GPs go by the music could change. "I always try to give 100 percent. I like the Argentine track, but that's not why I won every year. The same goes for Texas, where in the 2024 edition I finished with a zero. You always have to be focused and if you feel good take advantage of the opportunity," he added.
These results are proof that the top management of Borgo Panigale did well to bet on him: "The trust of Dall'Igna and the team I felt it since they proposed me the contract. Clearly Pecco has experience and has already won two titles with these colors. During the tests we shared a lot of information, but during the race weekends everyone looks after himself, having said that for me he remains a reference because he knows the Desmosedici very well."
Finally, a concluding remark on the choice of tires. "I will decide in free practice 2 because today I went strong with both compounds and I have some doubts," he admitted.
