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After two first-place finishes in Friday's sessions, Alex Marquez returned to his more usual second-place position in the Jerez Grand Prix Sprint. Brought back down to ground by the great pace of his brother Marc, winner of the eighth race out of nine contested and the fifth short race out of five, the Team Gresini rider got as good a result as he could, taking advantage of a good start from fourth place on the grid. Despite not being able to repeat yesterday's performance, Alex made no excuses, knowing that he could not have done anything more.
"Do I have the same problems as Bagnaia with the Sprint fuel tank? Whether it's a short race or a Grand Prix, I don't feel any difference. But it is true that we will see the same race again tomorrow," he remarked at the end of the race. "The start and the first lap are crucial here, because when you try to stay very close to another rider there is a lot of heat and you struggle a lot, especially here, where there are so many braking sections, like the first, second, sixth and last corners. You start getting sideways in the fast corners and it's very difficult to control. I hope to make a start tomorrow like today, or even better, and get to the first corner in a good position."
The fourth position on the grid is definitely not the ideal one from which to start, but the Catalan rider is not sure that starting from the front row would have changed the outcome of his Sprint by much.
"Starting third, with the start I made today, I think I would have been first into the first corner. At that moment the race would have changed so much, but my feeling was not perfect. So, I think the result could have been the same - he acknowledged - As I said before, the most important thing tomorrow will be to repeat today's start. And if I don't do it, the championship doesn't end now. We have to take points, stay calm and look at things from the right point of view: if we finish third or fourth tomorrow, it's still another race and we have to continue like this."
Going into more detail about his feelings, the two-time world champion added, "I'm not feeling good this weekend especially with the soft rear. It pushes so much to the front, especially in those corners where Marc is very fast with both the medium and the soft rear, because he is able to use that tire and open the throttle just the same. Unlike him who was able to do it for 12 laps and tomorrow he will do it for 25, I can't control this, or I can only do it for one or two laps. This is the main problem. With the rear medium, however, I feel the bike a little more balanced."
The eight-time world champion also managed to make a difference on the Jerez track, but what did he have extra on this occasion?
"The usual three or four left turns. I come close in Turns 11 and 12 where I go very well and I arrive with some hope until Turn 3, but then comes Turn 4 and today I insulted him inside my helmet," Alex answered with sincerity. "I tried in every way to try to do Turns 4, 7 and 8 like him, but there was no way, especially with the soft rear. Also, when it gets warmer and the track has less grip, he can go just as fast, while me and the others are slower, maybe by a tenth, or half a tenth compared to the morning."
Improving enough to be able to battle with Marc will not be easy, but the Gresini rider will do what he can to try to make a step forward.
"I think today we mainly paid for the fact that we missed part of yesterday afternoon's session and didn't have that information available. It seemed to me that all the rest of the grid took a step forward today, while we stayed where we were yesterday," he noted, "We'll see if we can make a small step forward tomorrow, although it's not easy to try something in the Warm Up. However, with the medium rear, which is 60 percent race tire for me, I have a better balance and so we'll see if Marc makes a little less difference tomorrow in the corners I was talking about earlier."
Beating his brother in the race, however, is not among the priorities of the Spanish rider, who reiterated that he is satisfied with the results he is getting in this start of the season.
"I have already said that for me to be in this situation is like a gift and I keep saying that there will come a point in the calendar where the factory riders will have an advantage. So, we are doing our championship and if we want to be in a good position at some important point in the championship, we have to try to finish the races and try to be there. I think the one who is a little bit more in trouble is Pecco, because me and my team are there in the middle, we are taking more points than Marc and him. So, we will try to enjoy the season without thinking about the championship or winning. Given Marc's level, I think it's unrealistic to think about it," the Spanish rider pointed out.
After relishing first place twice yesterday, the younger Marquez then returned to his usual, and almost fixed, second position.
"Yesterday the times came because there is adrenaline and you go ahead, however, today I think I gave my best. Everyone's level is very similar to all the other races this year: not much has changed coming to Europe, it's almost all the same, except for Quartararo, who did an impressive job," he commented.
Speaking precisely about Quartararo, Alex had his say on the Yamaha rider's chances of being in contention for the Grand Prix podium.
"I definitely expect it," he admitted, "Especially if he makes a good start and a good first lap, because then it is very difficult to overtake him. It is also true that since it is a different bike from mine there will be points where he will struggle more and high points where he will be stronger. When you don't have the same bike you have more chances to overtake in some areas, and tomorrow I will have to see what those points will be, because today I didn't have time to do that, since he unfortunately crashed on the second lap."
The Team Gresini rider finally spoke about the fine he received after Qualifying: "I'm happy because I got a bonus so I can pay the penalty. Joking aside, I have the time reminder on the dashboard and I tried to check it. But the start time was changed and maybe the time I was seeing was one second ahead. It was just a matter of that."
