Marc Marquez expected to struggle in Barcelona, and today's Sprint Race lived up to his prediction. Despite starting from the front row, the Gresini team rider in fact was unable to go further than seventh place overall.
Also conditioned by a contact with Pedro Acosta right after the start. It was certainly not a memorable race for the eight-time world champion, who was good at taking advantage of Bagnaia's tow in qualifying to secure the third slot on the grid.
"Obviously, I was a little bit more optimistic after qualifying. However, in the race, with those tricky early laps, we got back to what was our position," Marc explained , "We have the pace to be between fifth and 10th and I was seventh, but even with a good start I still wouldn't have done better than sixth.
You suffer and we suffered. On the one lap this morning I managed to salvage something, but I'm struggling more than usual in terms of pace. We will have to try to improve ahead of tomorrow, otherwise it will be a very long race."
The eldest of the Marquez brothers is not making excuses, not even about the incident with Acosta.
"I'm always honest, the contact with Acosta was a racing incident, but if anyone could have avoided it, it was me," he admitted, "He didn't see me at any time. I thought all the overtaking had ended but, in that corner, when you enter from the outside you reach the apex and you go longer and then come back to that point. That's where we collided, but Acosta is right: he didn't see anything. It's the same thing that happened with Augusto Fernandez."
A setback that did not, however, damage the Cervera rider's GP23: "Damage? No.The bike was working perfectly."
Going into more detail about the start, the 31-year-old added, "I had no other contact before the one with Acosta. The first braking? I was braking late and as I was deciding whether to go inside or outside Bastianini appeared and at that point I had no choice and had to go outside.
It's especially difficult at that point because the brakes were still not at the right temperature to brake hard. So when you brake and you see that the bike doesn't brake, subconsciously you put more pressure on it, but at the same time the brakes come up to temperature and you get locked up.
Tomorrow we'll see if we can make an aggressive braking move to release the front device, while keeping the position on the inside."
Much more positive than Marc's, however, was his brother Alex's Sprint.
"My brother is doing really well in this last few races," he said, "He's been riding really well since Thailand and you can see that in the data.
Even if it is not reflected in spectacular results like podiums, he was also very fast in Malaysia, where he got two fourth places, and this weekend he was the fastest of the riders with the GP23."
What is the eight-time champion missing to achieve the same performance?
"I don't feel comfortable on the bike at any point. I'm not fighting against the bike, but against the track," he replied, "The feelings in May were not bad, because I felt what the limit was on the track.
Instead, this weekend I started in the opposite condition already from Friday. I'm making changes a little at a time to try to be more competitive, but I'm struggling and when you don't feel comfortable, it's hard to be consistent."
With this in mind, it is shaping up to be a rather disappointing end to the season for the Spanish rider, who will nonetheless retain good memories of the Gresini team.
"You always want the last race to end well, but it's not a matter of the taste of one race or another.We know that on this circuit I have always suffered, and this weekend is no different, " he noted, "What's left of this year in Gresini for me?
Don't get me wrong because I had an incredible group in Honda, but being in a satellite team, it's a bit like being in a Moto2 team, in the sense that you can talk directly to the one who is the real boss of the team.
You feel they are here because of passion and because of Fausto. All these things make it special, and here I found the best atmosphere to be reborn. It was perfect for me. I shed a few tears already in Wednesday's dinner."
Positive memories to carry into 2025 along with the knowledge that he has not encountered any problems from a physical standpoint.
"Trying not to have injuries has been one of the key points of this year, because when you get hurt all the time you can't recover from the previous one. The fact of participating in all the races, of doing championship a whole, also gives you extra confidence that at the same time allows you to feel better and better," said Marc, who next year, however, will not be able to count on his current crew chief Carchedi.
"If it will be a problem? We are human, so when a rider changes crew chief, or vice versa, it obviously takes time to get to know each other. But I think the fact that my crew chief already works in the factory team, and they have my data from this year, will make it easier," he commented.
To finish, Marquez had his say on Martin's chances of graduating as champion tomorrow and the advice he would give to the two title contenders, "I think it will be easy for Jorge to finish ninth, but races are races. Advice to the two? Pecco has to do what he did today and Jorge has to do what he did today," he concluded with a laugh.
