Marc Marquez smiles at the end of the Grand Prix at Mugello, bringing home a weekend of ups and downs, finishing off the podium in fourth.
About today’s race…
“We know where we are now and that Pecco would have been very fast here, in fact he had an incredible weekend. Another time we were fast on the 2024 bikes and we fought for the front row. I’m very happy with the whole weekend, it’s true that in the race I was a bit stuck behind Bastianini, I tried to overtake him but it was impossible, I was doing a thousand different things, leaving a bit of space and returning to cool the tyre, but the pressure rose and I didn’t have any more time to brake. In the end I made it but I had already used the rear tire too much. When I overtook him the pace was good and I was going to catch Martin, tenth after tenth, but in the last two laps it seemed that Bastianini had some tyres. new ones and I gave up. He went very fast and deserved second place.”
On the fight with Bastianini…
“We were fighting against the fastest Ducati, which is usually Bastianini: he uses aerodynamics a lot and was doing the last corner very well. I was also doing it well, but he never made a mistake at that point and was even braking later. All these things made me stay behind him for the whole race, then the temperature and pressure went up, I tried to come back and open a gap and fight just to see what was possible… You saw how I braked into Turn 1 with both tires sideways and I thought that once it was fine, twice it would have been a risk”
Did the tires affect performance?
“Today a piece of rubber arrived loose due to overheating, but the tires didn’t affect the performance: it’s true that the 2023 bike is limited in this aspect on the rear, it drops a little less and we always push it to the limit, standing behind Di Giannantonio at Le Mans I saw that he also has the same problem. It’s something we know: when I signed with the Gresini team, Ducati made it very clear to me what I wanted and I accepted it, which is why I didn’t like it. never complain. Now we have to think about the present: we know what we have and we have to do the best with that, but we see it on the track: the performance is not that different, on every track we are very close to Pecco and Jorge who are the most consistent riders , this time Bastianini was also there. The differences between the bikes are not that big.”
How do you manage to have this mentality after winning so much?
“It’s a year in which I’m finding myself, which is what I was looking for. Obviously we haven’t ruled out anything, but I won’t justify myself because I knew what I had and they told me very clearly. I won a lot, but I also suffered a lot in the last 4 years, longer than I wanted. Now it’s easy, whenever I can I try to save the day, I’m satisfied with this fourth place at Mugello.”
Many riders complained about having struggled so much physically this weekend…
“This is another point that I’m very satisfied with. Today in the drivers’ parade I heard many people complaining about their physical condition – including my brother, who was very tired – and instead my arm responds perfectly even though it is one of the most physical circuits on the calendar It was only a matter of time, last year I had one injury after another. It’s true that with so many races and with so much demand, because we are pushed to the limit so much every weekend, riders will end up retiring earlier than expected. to the past. If we end up reaching 22 Grands Prix, I will be one of those who doesn’t want it to go any further.”
Apart from the Sachsenring, are there any other tracks where you think you can win a race?
“If there’s one thing I’ve learned this year, it’s that the more different the Ducati is, the more I can’t go to the various tracks with too high or too low expectations. I have to understand on Friday where I am: here for example I expected to suffer a lot and in fact it happened, in Barcelona I expected to suffer even more but it only happened on Friday because the race pace was there. Let’s see what we find there and we’ll see if I can fight for the victory: I have no expectations.”
