After Balaton and Brno, it seemed as though we’d seen the superhero version of Marc Márquez again. At Assen, however, we saw Marc back in survival mode. He finished seventh, penalized for going on the green at the last chicane while under attack from Di Giannantonio in a move reminiscent of Assen 2015, but above all, he was much more of a strategist than a predator. Friday’s crash set off all the alarm bells: a battered body, sharp direction changes, and zero desire to end up in the Assen gravel—which the Ducati rider continues to openly criticize. “When you can’t, you can’t,” he said when asked if at some point during the race he would have liked to let his instincts take over. And today, Marc couldn’t be “Marc” all the way. He raced to make it to the finish, to leave the Netherlands in one piece, and to postpone the real battle until friendlier tracks.
Meanwhile, thanks to Bezzecchi’s zero-point finish, the standings show a world championship that’s wide open, with five riders within 40 points of each other and 12 races still to go.
“It was a long race. A very long one,” Marc said, making no secret of his physical exhaustion. “I go out on the race, and I knew that my place was to finish sixth, seventh, eighth. And it's true that looking at the race, the maximum was fifth place, but in the end we finished seventh. But I rode smoothly and cleanly, the good thing was that we escaped from Holland without injuries, this was my main target.”
You were battling with a lot of riders—first Bagnaia, then Acosta, Bastianini, and Di Giannantonio in the final laps. Was there a moment when your competitive instinct was about to take over, or did you know you had to play it safe?
“No, I just couldn’t get fired up today… when you can’t, you can’t. And today I couldn’t.”
You arrived here 40 points behind the leader, Bezzecchi, and you’re leaving still 40 points behind. But now Martín is the leader. Does that change anything or not?
“What’s different is that I left the Netherlands injury-free. That’s what I was looking for on this track, because it was clear all weekend: anyone who crashed and went into the gravel was taking a big risk. This is a beautiful track, but I already said it last year: the gravel here isn’t good. You go in fast, but Fermín didn’t go in that fast and he got hurt. There’s too big a drop-off between the asphalt and the gravel. The same thing happened to Bezzecchi today; as soon as he hit the run-off area, he started rolling. I realized that on Friday and told myself: I want to escap from here without getting hurt. And that’s exactly what I did.”
With Di Giannantonio at the final chicane, you two reenacted a situation very similar to the one you experienced in 2015 with Valentino—twice. After the first pass, Di Giannantonio was penalized with a Long Lap penalty.
“In the end, it was a race incident. Because, as Race Direction said, that was a race incident. Di Giannantonio got penalized but not for the contact, because he cut the chicane. So we accept what Race Control says: it was a race incident, period. At least in 2015, I did the chicane.”
Then he passed you and you were penalized because you put your wheels on the green. Was that a correct decision, or did Fabio’s attack make it inevitable that you would cross the track limit at the chicane?
“I accept it, I keep quiet, and I race. End of story.”
In soccer, they say that when a team faces Barça or Real Madrid, it’s the game of the year and everyone gives it their all. Here it seems that when a rider has you in front of him, he wants to make the overtake of the year. Do you get that impression too?
“Well, if that’s the case, I’m proud, because it means they want to pass me. But let’s hope we can improve in the upcoming races, so maybe I won’t always have to be on the defensive and can go on the attack more. That’s racing.”
Tyre choice: would you go back to the soft rear?
“I don't have the physical condition to take the maximum potential of the tyre on the laps. So then I said 'I will ride slowly and just push single laps,' and to push single laps, the soft rear was better.”
What can you say about Bezzecchi? It was a weekend where you’d said he could score 37 points. But today, unfortunately, he was involved in a bad crash.
“We’ll see how he’s doing physically, because I saw the crash and it was really bad —at this point, the reporters tell him that Bezzecchi doesn’t appear to have suffered a fracture — So it must be a soft tyre, because he was rolling at a very high speed! We really hope he’s okay. But anything can happen in races: you get off to a bad start, end up stuck in the middle of the pack, and have to make your way through. He crashed today, but we’re seeing that the championship is a long haul and anything can happen.”
In two weeks, though, we’re off to the Sachsenring, one of your best tracks. Will you have to score those 37 points there?
“We’ll see. Bezzecchi was supposed to score those 37 points here, and he didn’t. I’m still very much limited by my physical condition. I have my circuits—the ones where I feel most comfortable—and I’ll be able to have fun and enjoy myself there. On the ones where I see that I’m struggling, I’ll do what I did this weekend: switch to reserve mode and just get to the finish. I definitely expect to feel better than I did here.”
How do you see the fight for the world championship? It seems more open than ever.
“The problem is that all the contenders are strong. There isn’t a clear favorite, and no one is out of the running. Everyone’s in the mix here. People keep talking about Bezzecchi vs. Marc, Bezzecchi vs. Marc, but there’s Jorge Martín, who’s leading the championship. There’s Ogura, who won today and has been racking up a lot of points in recent races. I feel like I’m not the strongest one, and I'm not the fastest one, but nobody wants to be the fastest one: So at teh moment, it's five names in the championship that are fighting every race there.”
Considering that Assen has never been one of your favorite tracks, are you satisfied with your weekend?
“If I were satisfied with a sixth and a seventh-place finish, that would mean I’m not Marc Márquez. So I’m looking at the bright side: I escaped without any injuries, and that’s what I was aiming for.”
But physically, did you struggle more than you might have expected after Balaton and Brno?
“Assen is a track with very fast corners. I really struggle when going from a left-hand corner to a right-hand one, especially if I have to change direction from the left and brake on the right side. That’s where I struggle the most, and that’s where they attacked me today. There’s not much I can do about it. On Friday, when I tried to ride the way I wanted to, I crashed right at that spot because I didn’t have the right riding position.”
When you saw Álex pull ahead there, were you surprised, or did you know he could make it? Physically, he wasn’t in good shape at all.
“Today Álex managed himself well. He’s a World Champion. He qualified very well over the weekend. Last year here, he was much faster than me. In the Sprint race, I managed to hold him off; in the main race, he crashed—otherwise, he would have won. Álex, as he proved at Jerez and Montmeló—where he later crashed—is a top-notch rider. He’s the World Championship runner-up and a two-time world champion,” Marc concluded regarding his brother’s performance.