Marc Marquez, seven-time pole sitter at this German Grand Prix, went to the post-qualifying press conference to answer various questions from journalists.
As usual, in order to avoid any sometimes abusive journalistic interpretation, we offer you here a “raw” translation of all of his words.
What question can we ask you? A great day…
“Yes, another pole position, here at the Sachsenring, so I'm really happy, because, honestly, before qualifying, FP4 didn't give me the best feeling of the weekend, because we really tried a lot of things on the bike and we may have lost direction a little, but we got back on track in qualifying.
Yes, I had a very good lap, but honestly for tomorrow, I already said it yesterday, Valentino is not far away (laughs). For tomorrow, I have the same feeling, he's not far, he's maybe 4 tenths on a lap in qualifying, but regarding the race pace over the race distance, we are very, very similar.
Dani is also not far behind in race pace, but he starts in 10th position, so we have to try to manage well if it is dry. If it’s wet, it’s a question mark for everyone.”
Rain could come during the afternoon...
“Yes, it looks like tomorrow it will be colder and honestly that might be better for us because we struggle more with the tires when it's hot. So colder may be better, but of course, if rain comes, then that's a question mark. It's another opponent because you have to manage well, no one has driven in the rain on this circuit. We'll see, but we expect a race in the dry, and of course if it's colder we'll have to be careful in a few corners.”
We will see the Marc Marquez of the last three races, who knows how to take 20 points, or will you aim for victory?
“Yes, of course, a victory is a victory. For example, in Mugello I tried until the end, I tried in Barcelona but Valentino beat me. In Assen it was a little different, but tomorrow we will try again; we'll see where we can get, and if I can't win, it's not a big drama, but we will try to fight for the podium at least. ”
Can you explain why you are so strong here and during the season compared to Dani?
“Of course it's difficult to say, I don't know, maybe also Dani is not in his best period because when you struggle with the bike and the results never come, it's still harder to stay motivated. But for me, I had a good start to the season, I know that I struggle more than in other seasons, it is a season where perhaps I ride more carefully on the bike, but at the same time in a way aggressive to be fast. And yes, this place is an additional motivation when you lead the championship, and maybe that makes the difference. But as I said before, in qualifying the distance is very large, but in FP4 it was very close, only a millisecond. So Dani is faster, but of course he’s struggling a bit this season.”
Coming out of turn #11, your bike moves a lot...
“Yes, it's something we're used to this season, but it seems like it's even more critical at this location. There's something, in the electronics, in the settings, that doesn't work very well, so you try to manage with the throttle, but you struggle with the different controls. Sometimes, for this reason, it creates these big movements. We're trying to sort that out, with the electronics and the settings, but you know, it's just one place. Sometimes we can manage this place but we lose on the rest of the circuit, so I know that tomorrow in the race there are a few corners where I should be a little careful.”
What happened with Iannone at the end of the trials? You were very slow and he almost hit you…
"Oh yes. When I left the box, he arrived, I don't know if he was fast or not, but you know, with Iannone, already... He tried to follow me in FP4 for 3 laps, then during qualifying, we We played to try to avoid aspiration. And in this turn, I checked that he was coming and I dove with the rope because I saw him late. But I think I didn't bother him because he didn't complain to me.
Then later he stopped and followed me to do his fastest lap so… it’s half and half (smiles).”
This morning, you gestured with your arms on your motorcycle…
“In FP3? I don't know. maybe it was with Iannone (laughs). I don't know. Normally I never make a move, but sometimes you get tired and tired…I don’t know.”