Obviously, with such a race without the slightest fault from Fabio Quartararo despite the permanent pressure exerted during 26 laps by the Honda driver, Marc Márquez did not fail to salute the performance of his runner-up.
To conquer without danger, we triumph without glory, but this was not the case for the eight-time world champion who had to draw on the depths of his talent to win the MotoGP Thailand Grand Prix, even if it meant leaving aside any grocer's strategy for the world title.
It was a question from the famous journalist Michel Turco during the press conference following the Grand Prix which elicited a response to shed light on what the person concerned thinks of the French driver.
Marc Márquez : « il y a eu un moment durant
la course où je pense que j’étais 0,7 seconde, 0,8 seconde ou
proche d’une seconde derrière lui, et je me suis dit “OK, s’il ne
ralentit pas, ce sera impossible”. Mais ensuite, c’est là où j’ai
fait mon tour le plus rapide. Quand j’ai hésité entre renoncer et
essayer, je me suis dit que j’allais essayer d’attaquer au maximum
pendant deux tours, et que si je passais ces deux tours, je serai
prêt a remporter la course. Et c’est ce que j’ai fait : j’ai
attaqué deux tours et j’ai alors fait mon tour le plus rapide.
Puis, je me suis dit “OK, il est maintenant temps d’être relax et
de relâcher” car j’étais à la limite avec l’avant. »
“But yes, Fabio drives the Yamaha in a very good way. I mean I have memories from the past, and he has a similar riding style to Jorge (Lorenzo) when he was at his best with the Yamaha. He rides the Yamaha using the whole track and he manages the race well. »
“Today he was very very very fast throughout the race, but of course we have strong points, like the engine at the moment, and they have another strong point which is the rear grip. In T3 and T4 it was impossible to follow them with our motorbike. But yes, he is improving a lot and he will be one of the main opponents next year. »
Jorge Lorenzo at his best on the Yamaha? Isn't that what gave him three world champion titles?
That’s all the harm we wish for the young 20-year-old Frenchman…
MotoGP Thailand Grand Prix standings:
Classification and photo credit: MotoGP.com
