Marc Marquez believes that without crashing in the rain at Jerez, he would have crashed at Le Mans – Johann Zarco was too fast – He focused on his brother Alex Marquez
With his victory in the sprint, Marc Marquez has regained the World Championship lead at Le Mans. The Ducati factory rider finished second in the Grand Prix. Because his brother Alex Marquez (Gresini-Ducati) crashed twice in the rain in France, Marc Marquez extended his World Championship lead to 22 points.
“It was one of those days where you have to limit the damage,“ said Marc Marquez. ‘Why? Because in conditions like that, it’s extremely easy to make a small mistake. During the race, I just tried to control Alex.’
”He’s my brother, but at the moment he’s also my biggest rival in the World Championship. He’s the one closest to me. I just tried to manage the gap between us.”
“But because I made a mistake in Jerez, I was able to avoid it this time. Because if I had won in Jerez, I’m not 100 percent sure, but 80 percent sure that I would have crashed this time,” laughs the Spaniard. ”Yes, because I know myself.”
Marc Marquez was one of 13 riders who turned into the pit lane after the sighting lap to switch to their second bike with slicks. “It’s true that I wasn’t sure during the sighting lap,” he says of this key moment.
“I saw that Pecco [with rain tires] was heading for the starting grid. Then I realized that the track was completely dry.“ As the riders approached the pit lane entrance at slow speed, Marc Marquez checked the grip conditions with his foot.
”I copied Alex on that lap,” he admits. ”I waited for him, and when he went in, I went in with him.” In the race, the situation was reversed. After a few laps, Marc Marquez turned into the pit lane, with Alex right behind him.
“When I switched to rain tires, he copied me,” said Marc Marquez. “Only Fermin stayed out one lap longer, but that was too late because he lost a lot of time on that lap. But yes, I know Alex, he knows me.”
Johann Zarco was too fast in the wet
Once the field had sorted itself out, Johann Zarco was leading on his Honda, around eight seconds ahead of Marc Marquez. The Frenchman admitted that he was afraid that the red Ducati could catch up quickly. But that wasn’t the case.
“At one point when it was raining harder, I pushed,” said Marc Marquez about this phase of the race. ‘Then I saw that I was catching up a little on Johann, but eight seconds was just too much.’
“Doing a 1:45 lap was too risky. So I dropped back to 1:46, 1:47 – finish the race and that’s it. I then controlled the lead over Alex.” Since Zarco is not in contention for the world championship, Marc Marquez played it safe.
“But the race was extremely long – mentally, it was very long. Twenty points in the race and twelve in the sprint – so overall it was a good weekend.” His championship rivals Alex Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia both made mistakes.
Is Marc Marquez worried about one of the upcoming tracks?
Marc Marquez remains unbeaten in the sprints this year. He is the first rider to win six sprints in a row. He also has three Grand Prix victories and one second place to his name. He has shown that he has been competitive on all tracks so far.
Are there any tracks coming up that worry him? “None. That’s the goal. Of course, if I’m honest, there will be tracks where I’ll have problems. But I’m not going into the weekend thinking that I’ll have difficulties.”
“After Friday, I’ll see if I have any problems or not. Because, to be honest, after the Qatar GP, which was very demanding for me but a success, I’m not afraid of any track anymore.“
”There will be difficult tracks, yes – but we have to understand them. Now we’ve built up a small lead again. The most important thing now is not to squander this lead like we did in Austin and Jerez.”
“Now it’s on to Silverstone, and I expect Alex to be super fast there. Normally, his riding style suits that track better than here. Let’s see if we can be close to the top guys – that will be the goal.”
