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All the intentions of Marc Marquez to leave the Austin circuit witha full haul of points were shattered with a crash on the ninth lap of the GP of the Americas. The outright dominator of the first championship rounds, the Spanish rider was on his way to his third double win of the season, until an unexpected mistake turned the tide. And he handed Francesco Bagnaia his first win of the year and Alex Marquez the lead in the world championship standings, with a one-point margin over his brother.
Speaking to DAZN, the Spanish former rider Carlos Checa provided his own analysis of what happened in Texas and the effects that the eight-time World Champion's crash could have on the rest of the championship.
"This victory for Bagnaia means a lot. He has been Marc's main rival from the beginning," noted the 52-year-old, who is convinced, however, that the confidence of the rider from Piedmont at the start of this season has been strongly affected not only by a difficult adaptation to the latest evolution of the Ducati, but also by the defeat he received last year and by the presence in the box of a teammate of Marc's caliber.
"Pecco was hurt after last year, due to not winning the championship with the factory team and being beaten by Jorge Martin," he said, "On the other hand, Marc's arrival at this start of the season was also difficult for him, not to mention his confidence and pace."
During the Texas Round, however, signs of recovery were seen from the 28-year-old, who was also able to take advantage of an unexpected gift from the eldest of the Marquez brothers.
"On Saturday we saw that he was aggressive, that he was determined at the beginning, but then he couldn't stay that way for all the laps and pass Alex, while on Sunday he managed to do it," analyzed Checa. "Marc's mistake gave Pecco the win and gave him wings and motivation. Pecco obviously leaves here stronger and more motivated than ever, because he might think that it was because of his pressure that Marc made the mistake. Whatever the reason, Pecco is in better shape than ever and in the next races I think we will see him much more combative."
According to the former MotoGP and Superbike rider, the determining factor in the crash was more likely a momentary "lack of concentration" on the part of Marquez, who was "in too much of a hurry" in trying to outpace his opponents and did not take into account the slipperiness of the white line and kerbs, dampened by the rain that had fallen earlier.
Although this setback for the Catalan has restored Bagnaia's confidence and momentum, Checa is confident that it will not affect Marc's upcoming races.
"At the moment he is still the fastest, he is unquestionably superior. It's just a matter of controlling these moments at the limit. Pecco didn't overtake him at any time, he was the one who made a mistake and lost the race from there, but nothing more," he concluded, "Marc is the fastest. He made a mistake and couldn't finish, nevertheless we will see if he will be the fastest in Qatar or not. I believe he will be anyway."
