The Aragon weekend had left Alex Marquez with a bitter taste in his mouth for his conclusion in the gravel following the divisive and much-discussed incident with Bagnaia. The reigning Ducati world champion had not spared harsh words towards his brand teammate to journalists, pointing the finger at the Spaniard in no uncertain terms and with data in hand. In the following days, therefore, the physical pain was added to the media pillory, with those who agreed with the Spaniard and those who accused him of having consciously caused the incident, madness.
It is in this situation that on Thursday in Misano Bagnaia finally makes his official apologies, and while he does not change his mind about his version of events, he admits that he was too harsh on his Spanish colleague. After all, the Italian’s frustration at the time, words uttered in the heat of the moment after being dragged by two 150kg motorbikes, was also understandable. Alex Marquez thus thanks Bagnaia for his gesture of peace, which he says was late, ‘the damage to his image is done’, he will say to journalists after three hellish days that had seen the Spaniard forced to clarify his position on social media regarding the accident. And when asked about his biggest regret, Alex has no doubts: it is having missed his brother Marc’s return to victory…
“I’m fine, even if I’m maybe not 100% – Alex Marquez intervenes a few days after the accident with Pecco in Aragon – it’s not easy to recover in just three days, I’m quite battered and I’ve been through several hours of physiotherapy but I think I’ll be back in top form to face this weekend”.
Pecco apologized for the harsh words he addressed to you in the heat of the moment after the accident you were involved in at Aragon.
“I appreciate the fact that he apologized, the last few days have not been easy to manage. I thank him for the words he spent on the matter. However, it is also true that the damage to me, my team and my sporting image has already been done. Having said that, I would like to close this chapter, turn the page and look forward”.
Why do you think he waited to apologize?
“I don’t know, you should ask him. He said he noticed it already on Sunday, but he decided to wait anyway. The damage in the next three days was there.”
You talked about the damage done, but the episode also brought a lot of visibility.
“It depends on the point of view. But that’s how things are now, even if I don’t think that episodes like this are good for sport in general.”
However, these are the excuses of a world champion.
“Shouldn’t a champion do that? For me it’s irrelevant whether he’s a champion or not, first of all we are brand mates. I thank him for his words, now let’s close this chapter and focus on this race weekend”.
At the end of the Aragon weekend, what was the dominant emotion?
“The sadness. The sadness of ending up on the ground in a race where we could have fought for the podium. I was even more sad after seeing Marc win” – admits the Spaniard referring to Marc’s return to victory and the impossibility of sharing that moment with him.
However, expectations for Misano are positive.
“We come from a weekend in Aragon that up until the accident had been very positive so the expectations are good. Furthermore, it is the home GP for the Gresini team, we will have the hospitality full of guests and the mood in general is very positive so this will help. We need results and we will have to keep our concentration high. Last year it was not an easy race, it is not a circuit that perfectly suits my riding style”.
