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Sheriff Marc Marquez is back in town, or rather on the circuit, and he immediately wanted to lay down the law by taking pole and victory in the sprint. Not a surprise to many, given the statistics and performances in his favor during the weekend, but the Spaniard before dominating the 10 laps of the short race had to fight briefly with an awakened Pecco Bagnaia who in the first corners attempted to stamp his authority on the race.
That move by Pecco forced Marc to respond in kind, with a counter-overtaking on the inside that made fans of the sport, who have been without any sort of tussles between riders in these early season races, happy. The final part, however, was exactly the same as the script seen so far, as after keeping at bay the Ducatis of Pecco and Alex in the first laps, the Spaniard then cleared off, ending the race in easy management mode without too many hiccups. Marc thus continues in his perfect start to the championship, and should he win again tomorrow he would conclude with a third perfect weekend, with the knowledge, however, that difficult moments could come and that his rivals will not stay idle for long. In the meantime, however, the championship-leading Spaniard is notching up the points in the standings, and now looks down on his rivals from a total of 86.
At the beginning of the weekend you said you wanted to start out pessimistic, how do you handle this pressure from being the superfavorite?
"I'm in a good moment, but you know that during the season things can change. 2019 was the only year I made a mistake," Marc began, "but you saw it again today, the track conditions can change suddenly, you only need 10% more or less gas to make a mistake, I was pushing as always but I risked losing the rear. That episode gave me a chance to better understand the track conditions, so when I gained ground on my rivals I was able to manage the rest of the race."
"I am aware that the day will come when it will not be like today," the Spaniard continued, " it could be tomorrow or Qatar or Jerez or anywhere, it is impossible to be first in all poles, all sprints and all races. So far we have won a lot but I am aware that this trend is impossible to maintain throughout the year. There will be times to manage, when we will suffer and, as we saw today, it is a thousandth of a second, the extra ten percent of gas that can bring you down and turn a great weekend into a disaster. Yesterday I had a scare with the first crash, today I had another one, so we have to stay focused, take advantage of opportunities and get as many points as possible."
Did you expect such an aggressive Pecco on the first lap?
"No, but my start wasn't good so I was already looking to the inside because I expected someone would attack. The bike was Pecco's, I didn't attack in the first corner because I imagined someone would be there. After that I got back in the lead and he got back in turn 3 as well, I didn't expect that, so in turn 7 I was more aggressive."
Can Alex be a threat for tomorrow's race?
"Alex is very strong on the right side, the point where I made a mistake. Where I had less confidence he had more. Tomorrow with the mediums we will have to figure out the levels, but I also expect a very competitive Pecco because I saw that at the end of the sprint he had a good pace."
When you eased off the pace, what percentage were you pushing, 80 percent?
"I think I did a low 2.02 when I gained ground, when I saw that I had 6-7 tenths of a lead I tried to manage and then I attacked one more time when I got to one second ahead because I had made a mistake in turn 12 and I thought that my rivals might get too close. The feeling I think was not perfect for everyone looking at the gaps. Looking ahead to tomorrow's race we have to work to try to be even faster."
You seem to have changed your riding position on the Ducati, further back than on the Honda.
"I don't know if it's because I changed my riding style or because of the Ducati. On the Honda I was pushing a lot on the front and that often led me to crash. On the Ducati, on the other hand, from what I have seen so far, you ride much more on the rear. This riding style obviously wears out the rear tire more, but it's the best way to be consistent in braking points and acceleration."
Expectations for tomorrow's race?
"First of all, it will be important to get a good start, and from there we will have to manage the race. I expect Alex and Pecco to be very competitive, it will be a physical race where tire management will also be important."
