MADRID, 4 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spanish MotoGP rider Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda) celebrated this Tuesday being able to “‘play’ with the bike”, something that “he had not been able to do for a long time”, although he insisted that “there is still a little bit” to reach one hundred percent physically.
“The important thing is that the evolution was very positive and that was what was being sought in this case; starting in Aragón, the Misano test and little by little improving so that the evolution was always positive, because sometimes it can happen that in a rehabilitation you take steps back. But firm steps have been taken, we have managed it quite well and, above all, I have felt competitive. I could now ‘play’ with the motorcycle and this is good because I had not been able to do it for a long time “, he stated in statements provided by Estrella Galicia 0.0.
The eight-time world champion stressed that since he got back on a MotoGP “immediately” he felt that the speed “was there”, which is what makes you “competitive” and makes the “difference”. “Even so, it’s not enough to be competitive in the world championship. There have to be many factors, but what I lack now more than anything is that, seeing that the arm is evolving, one thing is strength and another is resistance. Strength is getting better and better, but resistance is what I’m lacking a little bit,” he added.
“In Thailand I started strong on Friday, with intensity, and I was able to maintain that intensity until Sunday. Sunday in the race things went wrong for me, but not badly because the bike was going wrong, but because, physically, my body told me: ‘up to here’. If the race had been dry, I would have suffered much more, but being in water is no longer so physical and I was able to save it, “he said.
However, the one from Cervera stressed that “there is still a little bit left” to reach one hundred percent physically. “From there we will have to try to improve everything we can and I think it will be possible to be competitive. We are also in a sport that combines rider, bike and team, and everything has to go together if you want to be really competitive”, he reflected.
Thus, Márquez set himself the goal for the final stretch “to continue evolving, to be closer and closer and to be more constant”, to “finish these last three races with good feelings”. As well as “working towards the 2023 project”. “This year has been weird because deciding to have surgery in the middle of the season is difficult and also a responsibility, but the decision was made because we believed that, for the future, for 2023, it was the right thing to do,” he explained.
However, Marc Márquez does not give up fighting for the World Cup next year. “If you are a Honda rider and you have the track record you have, you are obliged to fight for the World Championship,” he stated forcefully. “Every year, the illusion, the motivation and the focus is to fight for the World Cup. Then the rivals put you on the spot, they give you the answer,” said the Spaniard, who sees the fight for the current title as “very even.”
“Fabio Quartararo, Pecco Bagnaia and Aleix Espargaró. The three of them are going a little faster than the others and above all they are being more regular. Who will win? It is not known. I think Aleix is the surprise and he has nothing to lose , so that works in his favor. Quartararo is the champion and Bagnaia is the one with the best bike. Each one has a strong point that they have to know how to take advantage of and exploit to the fullest,” he said.