“With the level we have now, we cannot fight for the title”

Marc Marquez He was disappointed with his knockout in the MotoGP race of the Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez. He tried to put everything into perspective, but he was forceful when assessing his options of revalidating the 2025 title.

Summary

“In sport, sometimes you win and sometimes you lose and today I hit the cross, which was falling in that turn 11. Tomorrow is Monday and the important thing is that we have enjoyed the weekend in Jerez.”

Causes of fall

“There are crashes that there are times when it is not necessary to look for an explanation. I simply fell, the why is not clear, but 90 percent of crashes are the pilot’s fault, so I must have done something wrong.”

Alex’s past

“Yes, in fact, when I crossed the finish line, I saw: ‘Álex, +0.2’. And in lap 5, the Sito corner, I already heard him very close. I said: ‘He’s not the rival, today’, he wasn’t my rival, because he was one step ahead of everyone. And I say: ‘If he doesn’t pass me here, he will pass me on the next lap or in the next corner.’ I decided to brake without exaggerating in that corner, because they were the first laps, to lose as little time as possible, because my fight was different; it was with third-fourth place, which was the rhythm we had shown all weekend.”

Physical state

“Yes, physically, good. Luckily, good. That’s why, when it closed a little in front of me, which was already on the gas, I didn’t even try to save it; I positioned myself well, to be able to enter the gravel well.”

What were you thinking when you fell?

“Maybe ten years ago, I thought: ‘Shit, I screwed up’. Now, I think: ‘Am I okay physically? Yes, well, tomorrow is Monday, another day.'”

The World Cup

“Today, we are neither at the level nor with the power to speak for titles, for the title, because every weekend we are losing points, every Sunday we are suffering and when this happens something is missing. We are working on it to try to find something, but with the level we have right now, we cannot fight for a title.”

Aprilia, top

“It’s nothing new. Since the preseason, they have been very fast, but today a Ducati won and third was a Ducati. Let’s see if tomorrow, in the test, we can take a step and be consistent, especially on those Sundays, which is where Aprilia really takes the step.”

Intentions when falling

“Today I didn’t have the level to pass Álex. In the Sprint, in the dry, he cut me a second and a half in three laps and passed me and today, if Álex passed me, I would be behind him, follow him as many laps as I could so as not to lose time and win him with what, really, was my position, which was third-fourth place.”

What he saw in Álex and his data

“He’s doing the right-hand corners like before, very fast, and the left-hand ones just like me. We’ve seen him driving here in an incredible way and his data was a pleasure to see.”

The importance of the test

“Evidently, when another factory squeezes you, it is more important for Ducati, above all, to find little things that give you that click. We will see if tomorrow we can take a small step and that the small step that is taken tomorrow, reconfirm it in the next circuits, because on test Mondays, everything you test from 2-3 in the afternoon to the end, everything goes well, because of how the rubber track is.”

Victory for Álex and the GP26

“This victory is a combination of everything, but the driver is always the one who has the last word and the one who makes the difference. As the other victories have been for Bezzecchi, this one is for Álex.”