Marc Marquez summarizes his Friday in Jerez, thinking about tomorrow.
How would you rate your Friday in Jerez?
“We have to analyze this afternoon: this morning compared to the Ducati riders I was fast everywhere, but this afternoon with the wind I was struggling more than normal in the fast corners and in turn 5. In T4 I still have to improve, I’m not consistent, which is what the difference. In these conditions, however, qualifying will be very difficult.”
What’s it like having your brother as a teammate?
“Today we were both in Q2 so the whole garage was happy. There’s no strategy work: I want to be the first out because I don’t want anyone in front, I want to be alone even in the fast laps. My brother had a bit of difficulty in the first races: he is fast, now he seems to be able to do something more and I am happy to help him a little, but he is old enough to do it alone. His brother is the first to beat, but in this case the goal is to fight with the top guys, so in this case it’s different: we can compete, last year we couldn’t because it was too different a riding style and we were on two too different bikes”
How is the relationship with your technician improving?
“The relationship with my technician is improving: he is getting to know my riding style, we have made some changes to the bike and he wants to win”
Have you adapted to Ducati?
“We can stop talking about an “adaptation” phase: now we can work on the small details. I feel like I understand the bike, today we got out easily: we immediately reached the limit, but the others improved. But at every race we have some problems and we still have to put everything together, with each race we improve something. The podium will be a good goal for the next races, then we will find consistency and think about victory.”
What has changed in your driving style?
“My riding style is based on the Honda, only now I’m starting to change it and we’re bringing the bike closer. This helps me and that’s why today I was faster and more consistent, but it’s not possible to totally change the way you have course for more than 10 years”
How do you feel about the changes you made to the bike?
“I’m happy because it’s a different track, we started with the Austin setting – where we had the chance to win – and I feel better than at Portimao. Each circuit I feel more comfortable, everything is going well. I understood the crash from Austin, this year I feel good, I’m “dancing” at the front: little by little we’re trying to find consistency, here we changed the brake, which helps to have a good pace”
Here Pecco used your trail last year…
“For me it’s good that someone uses my slipstream, it means they’re fast. Last year I did it many times too because they were really fast. This year there’s the possibility that I’ll exploit other people’s slipstream in the Sprints , it’s normal in racing: sometimes you follow someone, other times they follow you”
