It’s not a common sight to see Marc Marquez happy with a 6th-place finish, but the world champion took his result in the Assen Sprint in stride. It was exactly what he expected; in fact, thanks to Bagnaia’s penalty, it turned out even better. In the Netherlands, he has no intention of taking any risks; he knows he has to settle for what he can get and play it safe.
Yesterday you said you were aiming for 6th place—you were spot on.
“Before the race, I’d changed it to 7th or 8th; I thought I’d be battling it out with Acosta, who was going fast but made a mistake. In fact, I finished 7th; I gained a position only because of Pecco’s mistake. Tomorrow will be the same—that’s just how it is. We’ve seen that the gravel in the Netherlands is a problem, and you have to be careful. You can’t start out thinking you won’t crash, but I’ll have to try to manage the race differently.”
Can you explain your difficulties in more detail?
“It’s a track where you have to use maximum force during direction changes. I feel good during braking with the bike straight, but here there are many direction changes with the throttle closed, so you can’t even rely on the engine. Plus, we’re switching from left to right, and that’s where I struggle a lot. Right now, I can’t do what the others do; when I go from left to right, my body leans forward, and if I follow my instinct, I crash, just like I did on Friday.”
But at the end of the race, you picked up your pace.
“Toward the end, I saw Bagnaia and Martin close together, so I thought I might be able to gain some ground. Pecco went out of track limits—I didn’t expect that—but if I’d been farther away from him, they wouldn’t have dropped him back a position, so I took advantage of it. I can ride at that pace, but not for the whole race.”
Will it be the same tomorrow?
“This is a weekend to wrap up by taking everything I can. I still need to figure out if it’ll be like this in the future too—if I’ll be able to have fun on the tracks I like and on the ones where I struggle to play it in defence, with the 5-4-1 scheme (laughs).”
Will you approach the race strategically?
“I’m going into safety mode; I don’t feel like I can push any harder. I’m not riding badly, but in some sections I lose too much time—I don’t feel comfortable and I’m not consistent. I’m not frustrated because that’s what I expected.”
Did you expect Bezzecchi to win?
“I said it yesterday; I thought Bezzecchi would score 37 points on this circuit, and he was lightning-fast again this morning. He’ll definitely win tomorrow because, on paper, he has the best pace. But anything can happen in the race.”
Did Aprilia surprise you?
“We already knew Aprilia’s strengths, and they’re better than us in the fast corners. They’re more competitive on this track, but Di Giannantonio and Pecco did an incredible job because they finished so close.”
Did you change your mind about starting without a front lowering device after trying it?
“No. At the start, you have to play with the throttle to keep the bike from wheelieing; the start is harder and less consistent. I don’t want to say it’s more dangerous, but for me it is. On the other hand, the braking point feels more natural and safer, especially when entering the corner. I don’t really like it, but that phase is safer.”