Marc Marquez says it is a “dream” that he didn’t lose any points to Jorge Martin in the title fight at his “worst circuit” after finishing first and second across the two races at the Indonesian Grand Prix.
The reigning MotoGP champion has a habit of analysing the upcoming rounds on the calendar to get an idea of where to attack and where to try to fend off his rivals’ blows.
His historical record at Mandalika, where he had not crossed the finish line in any of the full-length races he had entered, encouraged him to be more cautious than aggressive.
Precisely for that reason, the 22 points he accumulated with victory in the sprint and sixth place on Sunday tasted like glory.
In fact, only Marco Bezzecchi scored a bigger haul (25 points) than him over the weekend. Championship leader Jorge Martin, who arrived in Indonesia leading by a two-point margin over the Ducati rider, left Lombok exactly as he had arrived, a circumstance more favourable to Marquez when taken into account his previous results in Indonesia.
“On Thursday, if you had told me you will lose three points against Bezzecchi and equal Martin over the entire weekend….it was a dream and we achieved it.
“In the worst circuit for us, we did a great weekend. We were able to be consistent during all weekend. It’s true that on the race we suffered a lot, especially the second part of the race, but just happy how the weekend ended.”
On Saturday, the Ducati rider benefitted from an opening-lap clash that took out two frontrunners, Bezzecchi and Raul Fernandez’s crash at the first corner. But on Sunday, the two Aprilia riders, along with Martin and Ai Ogura, were able to deliver on their potential to secure a 1-2-3-4 result for the Noale factory.
“Obviously, you always want more. But we suffered, because tyre wear was high, and because I had to push since the lap times didn’t come easily. The important thing is that I knew how to suffer and be the first Ducati. We have salvaged the situation,” the Spaniard said
Marquez admitted he had to work hard to put his past struggles at the circuit behind him and focus on the present.
“I knew how to overcome a lot of problems during the weekend, to focus on thinking about the present and not the past, because I had never finished a Sunday race here,” he said.
With Bezzecchi claiming his first win since the Italian GP in May, Marquez insists the title fight remains a three-way battle between him and the factory Aprilia pair.
That is despite the Italian facing a 46-point deficit to Martin – and 44 to Marquez – with six rounds remaining.
“The World Championship is between three riders,” he said. “We’ve seen that anything can happen. Bezzecchi won the last two races of last year and the first three of this one. But the nice thing is that I’m fighting against two Aprilias.”
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