Alex Marquez watched from afar the triumph of his illustrious brother in his Austin garden as, with the same Honda, he crossed the finish line of the Grand Prix of the Americas 24s behind him after 20 laps. A gap which earned him a twelfth place which could not satisfy him. He is not happy about it and his only contentment is that, compared to his opponents, if he does not assert himself among the fastest, he identifies himself as the most physically sharp...
Alex Marquez failed to shine on a field'Austin who succeeds so well to his older brother Marc. Poorly qualified in fifteenth place, he was in twelfth place at the start of the race, but he then narrowly missed falling at turn 1 which forced him to start all over again... To regain that twelfth place at the start .
During his performance, he does not hide his anger with himself: “ I got off to a good start, but then I collided with another driver in the first corner. As a result, I lost a few more positions ", declared the pilot of 25 years old, describing the incident. “ I gave 100% during the race. But I had big problems with the grip of the rear wheel, which was not good from the start. Nevertheless, I was able to keep my pace and my lap times constant until the end ».
« On lap seven I had to go far because of a mistake in turn 12. It cost me three or four seconds. It was very frustrating, because without the mistake, a top 10 would have been possible ", regrets the Spaniard who also analyzes the situation of his distinguished colleagues: " we know that Marc usually makes the difference as a driver on this track, but Nakagami was also strong. I will try to learn from them and when we come back next year I will be more competitive ».
Alex Marquez doesn't understand why his colleagues found Austin exhausting
That being said, he still draws a victory over adversity in this Texas pass. And it is personal. While all his colleagues insisted on a grueling meeting and an exhausting Grand Prix, Alex Marquez clashes with a different version: “ from a physical point of view, I expected a more difficult race. Many drivers ultimately made mistakes and were no longer able to maintain the 2'05 lap time. But I was able to continue to consistently put on a 2'05 high. I wouldn't have expected this drop in performance from the more experienced riders, because they know how to ride a MotoGP bike here. For me, the effort was limited, which is really positive ».
Compared to other Honda riders, Alex Marquez did not spark. His teammate Takaaki Nakagami fell, but he was then in 6th place. The Honda factory rider Pol Espargaro had difficulty obtaining 10th place, while Marc Marquez demonstrated what we know by leading from start to finish this fifteenth of the eighteen rounds on the calendar. “ 24 seconds behind the winner who has the same bike as us, we can't be satisfied with that », recognizes by way of conclusion the youngest of the brothers Marquez.
MotoGP Austin J3: ranking
Credit classification motogp.com
