Sixth at the end of the Sprint Race after the scare he got in Q2 when he found himself rolling in the gravel, Alex Marquez ended Saturday at Phillip Island reasonably satisfied.
"From the outside, the crash was worse than it actually was because the run-off area was in very good condition. It wasn't good, but I had everything under control. In the race, however, I made the wrong tyre choice by opting for the medium on the front. I suffered a lot of graining and already after two or three laps I knew I had made a mistake. I had also tried to change the set-up to avoid the problems I had had in qualifying with the soft on the rear, but in some places the bike got worse, so I just tried to survive. We had too much rear grip pushing on the front and as soon as there were bumps, the bike moved around a lot," he recounted.
Looking ahead to tomorrow, however, he is optimistic: "The Aprilias are a step ahead, but I think the rear medium could give us a hand in the GP because it improves the balance. In addition, the double Long Lap Penalty to Bezzecchi, could represent an opportunity and I will try to be ready because the pace is there."
From hero to zero is the summary of the Saturday experienced on the other side of the Gresini box with Fermin Aldeguer, a winner at Mandalika, who found himself tasting the Australian asphalt.
"Physically I am fine, but morally a little less so, as I went from winning a GP to crashing. Overall, though, it was a positive day in that I entered Q2, started 7th, which is not bad, and finished close to the best Ducati, which was my teammate's," he said immediately after the race.
"The result doesn't reflect the work done and our potential, but it's also true that we suffered in the straights, especially against KTM and Honda, and gradually I was losing positions. I tried to recover in other parts of the track and gave it my all, but I was really on the limit even with my arms and that's why I crashed," he continued in his analysis.
A suboptimal condition also added difficulty to difficulty. "During qualifying, in Q1, I made a maneuver in the straightaway that led me to have a pain in my shoulder. It's just a muscular issue. We have already checked with the doctor and physiotherapist and everything is okay," he concluded.