Marc Marquez emphasizes that it will be “no easy task” to decide the title race in Japan – the focus at the Misano test was on fine-tuning details.
But despite the prospect of his ninth title, the first since his injury, Marquez is not feeling any pressure yet. “No, not at the moment,” he said on the sidelines of the official MotoGP test in Misano last Monday. “I’d like to feel it. I like pressure, especially on Sunday in the race.”
“Today at the test it was different, I relaxed and promptly crashed in turn 2 after lunch, already on the second lap. That’s when I lost my concentration. So now I’m going to rest for a few days and then feel the pressure again in Japan to ride better,“ he reported.
Marc Marquez: Winning the title in Japan will ”not be easy”
Marquez does not take it for granted that he will convert his first match point there into an early title win. “Many people think I’ll become world champion in Japan. But to do that, I have to score more points than Alex,” he knows.
“That’s not an easy task. He’s second in the world championship, he rides consistently, he’s coming off two good races, and here in Misano we both scored 25 points. So we’ll try to continue with the same mentality in Japan.”
And that is: go all out for victory! “I like the track, it’s always been good for me, but also for Alex. My goal is to fight for the win, even if the title is at stake.”
In addition to Motegi, the eight-time world champion considers Mandalika and Sepang to be the most difficult races of the rest of the season: “I’ve never finished a race in Mandalika. I want to change that. But in general, someone is extremely fast every weekend. The important thing is to be among the top guys.”
Misano test: swingarms, aero, and GP24 vs. GP25
During the official Monday test in Misano, Marquez completed 60 laps and set the sixth-fastest time with 1:30.871 minutes. The main focus of the test was on swingarms and different aero packages in order to collect data for the Valencia test.
“We compared the aero from the start of the season with the current one. The goal was to understand the direction for the future.” He denied rumors of a new ride height device: “No, it was the same as always, only the swingarm was new.” The Spaniard also compared the GP24 with the GP25. “I rode both in the same time – 1:31.0. One offers more cornering speed, the other more stability when braking. It depends on your riding style; both work.”
In this context, Marquez emphasized that he can adapt his riding style flexibly: “I have the ability to adapt quickly. That’s one of my strengths. It allows me to get the most out of my riding style and the bike.”
Ducati pit: Calm for Marquez, turmoil for Bagnaia
Things didn’t go so well for his teammate Francesco Bagnaia, who was clearly struggling with the GP25. In order to find a solution, he was supported on Monday by engineers, Michelin staff, and even Casey Stoner, while Marquez’s side of the Ducati pit remained relatively quiet.
When asked about this, the championship leader revealed: “I spoke briefly with Casey on Thursday, but over the weekend and today I only worked with my team.”
Given the crowd in Bagnaia’s garage, one might think that with so many voices it would be easy to get lost. But Marquez does not view this negatively. “I think they are looking for the right way rather than straying from the path.”
“In the end, it’s the job of the rider and the technicians to filter the information together with the engineers and find the way forward. But the more opinions you have, the better. And we saw that Pecco took a step forward in terms of lap times during testing,” said Marquez.