Misano – The fall in Q2 has affected – at least – Marc Marquez’s Sprint and certainly will not make things easier for him in the race. However, the short race was beautiful, fifth place in a comeback with two overtakings to frame: on Binder and, in the last lap, on Acosta.
On the fifth position…
“There are two interpretations: if I wasn’t very ambitious I would say: good, fifth, starting ninth, very good, because it’s a circuit where it’s very difficult to overtake. But I’m always self-critical and I penalised or perhaps ruined my weekend in Q2 with that mistake two corners from the end. I was doing a lap that would have put me in the second row, but starting from the third row the Sprint and the long race are very penalised”
On overtaking Acosta at turns 11-12 on the last lap…
“It’s one of the places where you go fast, I think you go 250-260 km/h. I was preparing to overtake, because I was a little bit faster than him, and I was preparing to overtake at the 14th, but I think he made a little mistake on the kerb, his bike moved a little bit and he probably had to cut the gas a little bit. I took advantage of that and then used a little bit of experience to defend the position”
Was it a message to Acosta?
“No, we are not in that situation. The messages are sent by those at the top, those who win, those who lead the sessions and, above all, the races every weekend. For me… I am always ambitious and I try to overtake the driver in front of me, no matter who it is.”
On overtaking Binder at Turn 14 on Lap 9…
“That was more difficult, because it was an overtaking without the other rider making a small mistake. At a certain point I thought I was going long and there was a moment in the corner where I said: either I stop or we risk crashing but you never do it intentionally. However, with these bikes, you try to overtake, the front locks up a bit and… I had to stop. Unconsciously you go inside, but I managed to stop it well, those who go outside usually lose. On this circuit we have seen very few overtakings, you have a similar pace to the one in front of you, it is practically impossible to overtake. And if you do it, you have to do it like this”
On what he feels after this Saturday…
“The important thing is that there is speed and that I feel comfortable. We have a very similar pace to those in front, the top four. But it is true that those small mistakes are the ones I want to avoid from now until the end of the year. This time it happened on the exact lap where it was not possible to fail. We will try to improve in the future”
Why did you crash in Q2?
“I arrived almost 8 km/h faster from the previous corner, because I was doing a good lap and arriving so fast, I turned a little faster. It all comes from the previous corner”
