Marc Marquez described the effort required to keep Ai Ogura behind him and hang on for victory at the Czech Grand Prix on Sunday.
Visibly drained after the race on a scorching day at Brno, the often cagey Marquez was unable to hide the emotion or satisfaction that came with winning under such circumstances.
Once the race had entered its final third, the factory Ducati rider upped the pace and claimed the lead from team-mate Francesco Bagnaia on lap 16 of 21.
“I saw on some big screens that sometimes even Ogura was trying to overtake me, so I said, ‘We must go’, because if you are behind two riders, it’s even worse for the front tyre.
“I took a lot of risks to overtake Pecco, at Turn 1, Turn 3, to try to attack at Turn 4. But that was the only way. I defended for one lap, and then I started to attack, and that was enough to open that small gap.”
Marquez wasn’t going to be allowed to relax, however, as Ogura moved into second place on lap 17. Renowned for his late-race speed, Ogura had the experienced Ducati rider worried in the closing stages.
“Then Ogura was coming, so I was quite afraid about his pace in the last part of the race because normally he’s super strong.”
The Trackhouse Aprilia kept the pressure firmly on Marquez until the end, forcing a scary moment for the red GP26 in the penultimate corner.
“I was afraid about Ogura, because we know how strong he is in the last laps. But for that reason, even in the last chicane, I was pushing because I had zero confidence with Ogura behind.”
Marquez said the slide was due to his having made an error at the previous corner and suspecting Ogura could be close enough to pounce.
“On the last lap at Turn 11, 12, I did a small mistake. And then I didn’t know, I was not very comfortable with Ogura behind.”
After hanging on to win by less than half a second, Marquez took obvious satisfaction in having overcome the challenges of the day, including winning on a clockwise circuit – such tracks typically expose his battered right arm – whilst less than fully fit.
“You know that I never give up,” he concluded. “On the last laps I was suffering a lot. The bike was there but I was empty. I just tried to keep the pace… they were the longest six laps of the year.”
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