Jerez MotoGP J.3 Marc Marquez Race Conference: The race, the championship, the carbon swingarm, the Swish Swish, etc. (Entire)

This post-race press conference of the Spanish Grand Prix brought together Marc Marquez, Johann Zarco (See here) and Andrea Iannone.

As usual, we report here our translation of the entire words of Marc Marquez, the winner, without journalistic formatting or distortion.

Marc, qualified 5th yesterday, but what a smart race today!

Marc Márquez : “yes, of course, it's the best way to start the European races to have a victory here in Jerez. Of course, today was not a race determined by speed. It was a race where you had to be precise and make the right decisions at every lap. And I did it. I was very smart at the start to overtake the other drivers because it was very difficult. Then I realized that it was almost impossible to overtake Lorenzo. He braked very late and he came out of the corners very well. So I was a little patient and when I saw that his tires were starting to deteriorate, I said to myself that it was time to lead the race and try to open up a gap. Gradually, I was able to widen the gap and I saw that from 2 seconds, my advantage increased to 6 seconds because something had happened at turn 6. I am happy because we score 25 points and we take the lead. advantage in the championship.

Were you surprised that Jorge Lorenzo fought for the victory?

“I mean Jorge but also Dovi! Dovi came back from behind and there he was. There's one thing I already said yesterday, that's why I was calm. A timed lap is one thing, and everyone can be fast on a lap, and another thing is race distance. It's a very long 25 laps. You have to manage the tires well. Between the start and the finish, the balance of the bike changes and you must adapt your riding style. And yes, I was surprised about Lorenzo. It was as if we had found the Lorenzo from before. He attacked a lot from the start but, you know, he slowed down Dani who was my main concern for this race. He braked Dani and I was able to overtake Dani, then Lorenzo, and escape.”

And you had a passage like on dirt track… it was incredible!

“(Laughs) yes, yes, yes. I don't know how I stayed on the bike, but we got there at more or less 220, 240 km/h. And when I saw a lot of stones on the track, it was too late. I said to myself OK, I'll stay on the bike and we'll see what happens! Both wheels then slipped but I was able to stay on the bike. So, I said to myself, “OK, I have to win this race because someone made me stay on the bike and continue.”

One dance in Austin and one here: what's next?

“(Laughs) I don’t know. Of course, today I was lucky to cross the finish line with a 5 second advantage. Here in Spain, it's traditional, all the children dance the Swish Swish. And since I'm a kid, I try to have fun and I enjoyed it. But I think I won't have many opportunities to cross the finish lines with such an advantage."

Is today the most important day so far for the championship?

“Yes, of course it’s important. I mean any race is important, but it's important to start Europe in a good way. But as we saw this weekend, I struggled a little. I was very comfortable but we were missing something up front, and I want to try something tomorrow, because I crashed 3 times. I'm still missing something and I want to understand it. But apart from that, regarding the championship, there are only 12 points between Johann and me. Of course, over the other drivers, today with the crash, we increased our advantage and that's good for us. But I already said it before Qatar: Johann will be strong this year and Suzuki will be on the podium. So more or less, my predictions came true. And anyway, I would say Ducati will be strong because they were close at this circuit and so they will be strong later in the championship. We've only done 4 races and there are many, many races left! »

We saw Dani switch from aluminum swingarm to carbon swingarm yesterday. What difference does it make?

“We don’t know exactly. We can't say 1/10 or 2/10. I think it's more about the feeling on the bike. It's a little more sensitive. You adapt your riding style a little and the bike responds immediately. It's something that, if you're able to understand how to ride, then you're faster. But if you drive the same way, it's the same thing. So it looks like he knows it. We're trying it and we've used it racing in Austin and here. Tomorrow I will try aluminum again because it is good to make comparisons. This is the first prototype and the first time Honda has worked with carbon. It seems like it’s a good direction.”

You said you were going to use Warm up to change your settings for the 4th sector. Did you do it?

“Yes, yes, and it was good. I was the fastest in T4, so… (laughs). Yes, I found it. I already knew where the error was and I immediately saw it on the data I just made a copy/paste from the other Hondas. Sometimes I need to do it, and sometimes they do it from me. It's normal and it's the best thing to have a strong teammate and other strong Honda riders. In the race, I was still missing one point, but I know where and I know why. Because I tried to save the tire. But other than that, yes, we quickly understood.”

Jerez MotoGP Race: Standings

1	93	Marc Márquez	Honda	41'39.678
2	5	johann zarco	Yamaha	+5.241
3	29	Andrea Iannone	Suzuki	+8.214
4	9	Danilo PETRUCCI	Ducati	+8.617
5	46	Valentino ROSSI	Yamaha	+8.743
6	43	Jack Miller	Ducati	+9.768
7	25	Maverick VIÑALES	Yamaha	+13.543
8	19	Alvaro BAUTISTA	Ducati	+14.076
9	21	Frank MORBIDELLI	Honda	+16.822
10	36	Mika Kallio	KTM	+19.405
11	44	Pol Espargaró	KTM	+21.149
12	30	Takaaki NAKAGAMI	Honda	+21.174
13	38	Bradley SMITH	KTM	+21.765
14	53	Tito RABAT	Ducati	+22.103
15	45	Scott REDDING	Aprilia	+36.755
16	55	Hafiz Syahrin	Yamaha	+41.861
17	10	Xavier SIMEON	Ducati	+49.241
18	17	Karel ABRAHAM	Ducati	1 turn
		Unclassified
	99	Jorge Lorenzo	Ducati	8 rounds
	4	Andrea Dovizioso	Ducati	8 rounds
	26	Dani PEDROSA	Honda	8 rounds
	35	Cal Crutchlow	Honda	9 rounds
	12	Thomas LUTHI	Honda	14 rounds
	42	Alex Rins	Suzuki	20 rounds
		Did not finish the 1st Round
	41	Aleix Espargaro	Aprilia	0 turn