Finishing fifth at the Austin GP and fifth in the overall standings, Marc Marquez seems a far cry from last year’s dominant force. Unable to keep up with the pace of the Aprilias and occasionally making mistakes—as he did during Free Practice 1 in Texas—the reigning champion did not blame his Desmosedici, but rather himself for a lack of the desired feel on the bike.
“I gave it my all, but I didn’t enjoy it; I’d rather be fighting for the win,” he confessed, disappointed, at the end of a race in which he was also slowed down by the Long Lap Penalty he received for Saturday’s crash with Di Giannantonio. “I struggled at the start, but then I gradually felt better. Now we’ll have three weeks to figure out how to improve those first laps.”
Penalty aside, according to the Cervera ace, there was no real prospect of a much better outcome anyway. “Maybe I could have fought for the podium, but certainly not for the win,” he stated bluntly, then explaining what isn’t working.
“It’s me who’s missing. In the early laps, with fresh tyres, the bike becomes aggressive and requires a lot of strength, and right now I can’t handle it. To become competitive, I have to wait 6–10 laps, which is when the tyres start to be consumed,” he admitted.
The next round will be in Spain, at Jerez, but for the 33-year-old, a turnaround is by no means guaranteed. “Jerez is a different track, but when you’re fast , you’re fast everywhere. I’ll have to try to take a step forward more as a rider than in terms of the bike. As I said, during the break I’ll work on the start of the race because I don’t feel comfortable in the saddle. I’ve gotten used to a riding position that isn’t natural, so even though I’m fast, I can’t make a difference, ” he pointed out.
Returning to today’s race, he revealed he wasn’t surprised by the challenges he faced:“In today’s MotoGP, when you’re in the slipstream, you’re a second slower without meaning to be. I knew it would be like that starting from the middle of the pack and because of the penalty that, as always, is served in the early laps, since it’s meant to penalize. From there, I was able to run my own race, but I didn’t have the pace to win.”
The aftermath of previous crashes and the blow he took on Friday certainly didn’t help the Spaniard. “After an injury, 100% is always different, and the blow to my right arm on Friday didn’t help. In any case, I’ll now have three weeks to recover,” he explained before discussing his direct rivals.
“Bezzecchi is in incredible form and is unstoppable. As for us, we need to improve. Taking a step forward automatically gives you more confidence and lets you go faster. Above all, we need to figure out why we don’t have the pace on Sundays, while in the Sprint races we manage to fight and get close to the Aprilias, which, conversely, are faster and more consistent than us in the GPs, ” he concluded.