Alex Marquez: “Diggia and Marc? When you throw a boomerang, it always comes back.”

Alex Marquez pulled off a small but impressive feat on Sunday in the MotoGP race at Assen. Although he was not yet in peak physical condition following his terrifying crash in Barcelona and Friday’s Pre-Qualifying crash—in which he suffered a bruised right shoulder and abrasions on his left arm— the Gresini team rider managed to join the battle for the top positions in the Dutch Grand Prix, securing an unexpected fifth-place finish. This result rewards the Catalan rider for the efforts he made to see the weekend through, after deciding to cut short the previous round in the Czech Republic as a precaution.

In addition to telling reporters what motivated him to finish the race, Alex shared his thoughts on one of the key moments of the Dutch race: Fabio Di Giannantonio’s first attempt to pass his brother Marc. An incident that brought to mind the one the nine-time world champion experienced with Valentino Rossi in 2015—but with the positions reversed—and which cost the Roman rider a Long Lap penalty for cutting the chicane.

Turning to his own GP, the younger of the Marquez brothers made no secret of the fact that he briefly considered giving up: “I was having fun, and with ten laps to go, I would have stopped. Honestly, I couldn’t take it anymore. But I was there, I felt comfortable; your position always motivates you and makes you want to give a little more, and all of that helped me finish the race on a pretty positive note.”

Fun and suffering were the main emotions Alex experienced during the 26-lap race.

“A mix, but more suffering than fun. The fun was maybe in the first part of the race; then I suffered a lot and did it more out of pride,” he admitted, explaining what drove him to keep going: “It was a matter of pride, of giving it my all, plain and simple. That was pretty much the reason. In the end, I even improved my lap times because that pride, that desire to stay with the group, pushed me to keep going, and I didn’t stop because I wasn’t putting myself or anyone else at risk. I just had to be careful on the fast sections, tackling the direction changes in a much smoother and more controlled way, so as not to make any mistakes.”

A performance that bodes well for the upcoming race at the Sachsenring, where Alex will take to the track without any expectations or specific goals.

“I have a week and a half to work on things; I certainly don’t expect a miracle, but I’ll mostly see how I feel when I’m there. In theory, the left-hand turns should help me a bit, but the important thing is that I haven’t lost my speed,” he underlined. “This weekend I raced in the Sprint and the Grand Prix and regained my race rhythm, which was important to me. Now it’s not about going to Germany and getting on the podium; I’ll need to have the calm and patience that I lacked on Friday.”