Marc Márquez began a weekend on Friday that could prove crucial for his career. He has his first opportunity to clinch his tenth world title at the Qatar Grand Prix. To do so, he needs to score 30 more points than Jorge Martín and eight more than Marco Bezzecchi (seven if he wins on Sunday).
Number 93 got off to a great start, finishing first in FP1 this morning, before losing a bit of ground during practice. Also hampered by a problem with his chain, which came off, he lost some time before returning to the track and ultimately securing second place.
“The positive thing is that it happened during practice. Luckily, it was in the last corner and I was able to return to the pits without losing any time. Honestly, I don’t know how many kilometers it had on it, I’m not even asking myself the question. I have confidence in the team and I know they will fix it for the rest of the weekend ,” he said.
“We started extremely well, then this afternoon we worked differently to test some things, but we dropped back a bit because the feeling this morning was better. At the end of the session, I found the right rhythm. I'm happy with how we started, but the weekend looks difficult because, as we've seen, there are several fast riders.”
The competition is indeed shaping up to be tough for Marc Márquez , starting with his main rival for the title. Despite breaking his radius two weeks ago, Martín has been a consistent presence at the front of the pack, and the Ducati rider believes in his rival's chances.
“Martín will find a strength that only fighting for a championship gives you. I saw him driving almost naturally, attacking with his usual style. I hope he will be competitive all weekend ,” he said, ever the competitor.
But Márquez will also have to watch out for Bezzecchi, who has proven to be very fast in race pace. Nevertheless, he believes he has as much to lose as to gain this weekend.
“For now, Bezzecchi has the best pace. He’s in a position where, whether it’s tomorrow or Sunday, it’s all or nothing. He has to attack, that’s what it takes to win races, and that’s what he’ll do. It’s a delicate position because you can’t afford to make a mistake, but at the same time, it’s reassuring because you have nothing to lose. So he’s going to give it his all, but when you have such an advantage, doubts can creep in and you can make a mistake ,” he explained.
Finally, other riders could come and play spoiler, which will not make things easy for Marc Márquez.
“Qualifying will be crucial. We have to try to be on the front row, which won't be easy. I'm not pessimistic, but there are a lot of fast riders. Besides Di Giannantonio and Bezzecchi, there's the small group made up of Martin, Bagnaia, Ogura, and Fernandez. Qualifying is going to be tight ,” he concluded.
Results from the Qatar Grand Prix Practice :
Ranking credit: MotoGP.com
