Marquez had "extra motivation" at Misano
While the Yamaha were to their advantage in Misano and Fabio Quartararo delivered an exciting recital from the 3rd to the 26th round of the San Marino GP, Marc Marquez took pleasure in defeating the predictions on his home soil " old buddy "Rossi ! On the other side of the HRC box, Lorenzo 14th continues to disappoint … Statements and analysis.
You should have seen Marc Marquez exulting in the parc ferme at the arrival of the Grand Prix de San Marino, each feature of his face expressing intense emotion: the Honda official literally had the "rage to win" this Sunday, and beware of anyone would have stood in his way !
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Forget polite smiles – an ideal son-in-law way – and complicit manners in front of the media: this mask necessary to heal one’s image has temporarily fallen to make way for the real face of n ° 93. That of a bubbling warrior who reluctantly surrenders his arms in battle rather than winning the war !
"I’m human, my team may tell me to stay calm and think about the championship, it is obvious that losing two races in a row on the last lap upset me", admits the leader of the championship, author of seven victories in thirteen races !
"Today, the easiest way would have been to follow Fabio and finish eight tenths and say he was the fastest … but that’s not my way of doing things", explains Marquez, clearly tired of hear – and read – here and there that its weak point lies in the mano a mano of the last lap.
"People would still have spoken if I lost again on the last lap"
"That’s why I attacked until the end, I had enough confidence to try to pass Fabio again: I knew that if I lost again on the last lap, people would have talked about it again" , says the HRC rider, the only Honda rider among the top 10 on the starting grid against the four Yamaha !
“Honestly, I knew that it was not necessary to do everything to win because I saw that Alex Rins had fallen and Andrea Dovizioso was far away (the Spanish and the Italian are dangerous in the championship, because respectively in the 4th and 2nd, Editor’s note). But I had additional motivation … "
This "additional motivation" has three origins: the desire to (oneself) prove their ability to win at the finish, the desire to beat the Yamaha, however clearly to their advantage this weekend and … to win on the lands of Valentino Rossi, with whom he again had !
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"Of course what happened yesterday" woke me up ", because I was only thinking of the championship: you have more motivation when someone plays with you", develops the n ° 93, which is is delighted to have won "the battle on the track" for want of having won it "at the microphone" against the idol of a whole country !
"I had nothing more to oppose to Fabio!"
Marc Marquez therefore gave everything to snatch the victory from the hands of the excellent Fabio Quartararo, who fought like a handsome "Diablo" despite the mechanical inferiority of his private Yamaha. The daring and talent of Nice did not go unnoticed by the current boss of the category….
"Fabio was very fast in Sector 3, so I passed him before then I closed the doors as much as I could! He really had a very solid race today: I had nothing more to him to oppose, I would not have been able to take the lead and print the same rhythm ". Sacred tribute to the n ° 20, who quickly erased his disappointment !
This strategy of "follower" awaiting the ultimate attack allows him to clinch his 77th victory in the Grand Prix and especially to increase his advantage in the championship to 93 points over Andrea Dovizioso, sixth in Misano at almost 14 seconds.
Lorenzo expected "a little more"
The results are much less favorable on the other side of the Honda-Repsol box, where Jorge Lorenzo was only a shadow of himself during this Italian weekend. The Mallorcan, injured in two vertebrae in the Netherlands, is still struggling to regain the upper hand despite the continuous improvement of his condition…
"Jorgeuil" thus qualified in an anonymous 18th position 1.512 seconds from the pole at Viñales, before finishing 14th not without taking advantage of the race circumstances. The falls of Rins, Crutchlow, Oliveira, Pirro, Bagnai, Nakagami avoid the humiliation of an arrival out of the points !
Visually on reserve on his Honda – straight as an "i" – Lorenzo fails to meet the expectations placed on a five-time world champion of his caliber. And to think that the n ° 99 has the most beautiful record in Misano with four poles and three victories !
The lack of results is beginning to weigh on the Honda clan, which no longer hesitates to question its investment: "returning to the forefront requires courage and will", insists the team manager Alberto Puig, quite frustrated with the sluggish return of Mallorcan.
Honda, too, expects a little more from Lorenzo !
Jorge Lorenzo indeed finished in the same position as in the previous race in Great Britain (14th), without having managed to significantly reduce his gap on the winner: 56.651 sec at Silverstone and 47.247 sec at Misano. Himself admits to having hoped for much better…
"I honestly expected a little more: I thought my race pace was closer to the winner, maybe 1.5 seconds per lap, but in reality it was more", he admits.
"The positive aspect is that I finished the race in better shape than at Silverstone and we were able to get closer. The grip was also less good in the race and that didn’t help us," said l official Honda, the only rider to have opted for soft rubber at the front and rear (medium-medium for most of his rivals).
Jorge Lorenzo thinks he will have to bite the bullet again next week in Aragon, but already plans to use the two-week respite with the next race in Thailand to indulge in the muscle building that he is sorely lacking at the moment..
Let us hope that this immense champion manages to "recover" enough to animate the overseas tour after the GP of Aragon: a Lorenzo in top form and in confidence can spice up the championship, failing to be in able to overthrow him in view of the domination of his box neighbor.
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