Happy men have no history? Error! At the end of his race on the Circuit of the Americas, Marc Marquez was very happy, and yet he had plenty of stories to tell us…
We offer you here a translation of his entire remarks.
Marc Marquez: “It was not an easy race. During the warmup, I tried the same tire before as everyone else, the Medium, but, I don't know why, but I didn't feel good with it. So for the race, thanks to my team and Michelin, to Patrick my technician, we chose the best tire for me, which was the Tendre. I was wondering, because I knew we would be at the limit at the end of the race, but ok, I used the Tendre and tried to take advantage of its potential at the start of the race by trying to open up a gap . Then I kept attacking every lap, because I didn't know when it was going to drop. When there were only 5 laps left, I started to feel big slides from the front. The pace was 2'05 then we went to 2'06 during the last three laps, so we finished at the limit with the front tire, but the gap I had made at the start of the race was enough for the final laps. »
Have you been told that Valentino has fallen?
“No, they didn’t tell me anything. I just asked them to tell me the gap with the second. I was very focused on my pace, on the gap with the second, which at the beginning was Dovi then Jorge, then I saw that this gap increased little by little. It was only when I arrived at the parc ferme that they told me that Pedrosa had crashed with Dovi, then Valentino. For the championship, we must use this small gap that we created during these first three races, and we will now see in Europe. In Jerez, Jorge is really strong, but we are working hard and I think we will improve with each race. »
21 points ahead, would you have believed it in winter testing?
“Of course I am very happy. This is excellent news for us and for the team, because we struggled a lot during the pre-season. Then we started the first lesson; we were far away but we ended up close, so that was good. Then, in Argentina, we won the race but it was flag-to-flag so we were happy with this victory, but it was not a normal race. Here we won on a normal weekend, so we are very happy with Cal and I think the key was to always believe in Honda; they work very hard and my team works very hard, so we still have to improve, in acceleration, you saw at the start of the race the Ducati and the Yamaha overtake me in acceleration, but I think we will improve at the start of the race. 'future. »
We saw a lot of falls from the front today. Can you find the limit and stay below it?
“You’re always looking to control the limit of the tires. What happens is that everyone always arrives at a circuit with their references and their settings from last year. We have to understand that we have different tires and settings this year. Of course, I arrived here and the first day I was braking in the same place as with the Bridgestones and I was not able to brake the bike. We need to understand that these tires work differently; they have weaker points and much better points. I'm still trying to understand this, with the team, and the most important thing is that we could race here with a soft front tire, or a medium, just like at the rear the soft was a possibility, slight but a possibility nonetheless. So they work really hard. They brought a new tire here to avoid the problems encountered in Argentina. But yes, finding the limit is difficult. for example, I spoke with the Michelin people before the race, and they told me "if you choose the soft front tire, it will be ok for 12 or 15 laps", and that's how it went! I started to feel the understeer on lap 14, but the tire was perfect for the first 14 laps. So you should always understand this limit. »
The Moto2 riders said the track was very slippery. Was it different from yesterday?
" Yes a bit. I attacked a lot at the start, and the times didn't come; just big 04, 04, whereas yesterday I was able to ride a small 04 or big 03.
But at the same time, I saw the gap widening quickly, so, yes, that meant that the track was different. »
If we had told you that you would be 21 points ahead of Jorge after three races, what would you have said? That we were crazy?
“Yes, of course, because I remember how I felt in Malaysia when I was pushing 100% the first days, and I was a second and a half slower than Jorge. It was very frustrating, but I think the key was to always believe in Honda and my team. They have worked a lot and they are still working a lot because we are not yet 100%. So yes, happy with this race, but on the other hand, I want to arrive in Europe where the tracks are different, narrower, with different surfaces, “old style” surfaces. So we'll see there, but at the moment, we have 21 points and that's something that's there. Now we have to understand well which direction to take and I think Honda will soon bring parts because they are working really hard in Japan to help me and to try to achieve our goal, because after last year, my motivation, with Honda's is very strong to achieve our goal. »
Do you think your bike is better now than it was at the beginning of the year?
" Yes of course. Every time, we find new things. In electronics, on the motorcycle. We are improving it step by step. For example, here we improved the electronics that control the starts, so the start was much better than the others. We also improved the engine braking a little since we found a little something after Argentina. So, step by step, we improve. Honda is also working, and you saw on Friday that I tried different fins and fairing. We work. Ok, it is always possible to go in the wrong direction, but I hope that we are now in the right direction and we must follow it, and try to work in the same way. »
2016 World Championship Ranking
| Pos | Pile | Motorcycle | Country | Points |
| 1 | Marc Márquez | Honda | SPA | 66 |
| 2 | Jorge Lorenzo | Yamaha | SPA | 45 |
| 3 | Valentino ROSSI | Yamaha | ITA | 33 |
| 4 | Pol Espargaró | Yamaha | SPA | 28 |
| 5 | Dani PEDROSA | Honda | SPA | 27 |
| 6 | Hector BARBERA | Ducati | SPA | 25 |
| 7 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati | ITA | 23 |
| 8 | Maverick VIÑALES | Suzuki | SPA | 23 |
| 9 | Eugene LAVERTY | Ducati | IRL | 21 |
| 10 | Aleix Espargaro | Suzuki | SPA | 21 |
| 11 | Andrea Iannone | Ducati | ITA | 16 |
| 12 | Scott REDDING | Ducati | GBR | 16 |
| 13 | Bradley SMITH | Yamaha | GBR | 16 |
| 14 | Stefan BRADL | Aprilia | GER | 15 |
| 15 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | Aprilia | SPA | 14 |
| 16 | Michael PIRRO | Ducati | ITA | 12 |
| 17 | Tito RABAT | Honda | SPA | 11 |
| 18 | Jack Miller | Honda | AUS | 2 |
| 19 | Yonny HERNANDEZ | Ducati | COL | 2 |
| 20 | Loris BAZ | Ducati | FRA | 1 |
| 21 | Cal Crutchlow | Honda | GBR | 0 |
