Marc Marquez reckons his ‘clever’ strategy to win the Aragon MotoGP contest was key as he ultimately went on to secure victory in his 200th Grand Prix.
The Spaniard took pole in qualifying yesterday and was expected to run away in the 22 lap race due to the blistering pace the Honda man has displayed throughout the weekend.
He set a time 1.7 seconds faster than anyone in FP1 on Friday morning, and despite only managing the fourth quickest time in FP2 after focussing on race runs he still looked likely to be the pacesetter through the rest of weekend.
Marquez quickly built a significant gap in the early laps over Pramac Ducati’s Jack Miller, and controlled his advantage across the remaining laps to cross the line nearly five seconds clear of eventual runner-up Andrea Dovizioso.
The reigning five-time MotoGP world champion was satisfied with his race performance having gone perfectly to his pre-ordained plan cooked up prior to the race.
“The strategy was really clever, I was convinced about which one to use before the race,” explained Marquez.
“This was to push really hard in the first few laps to build a gap so the others couldn’t follow and learn about me.
“It went well as I got a perfect start and pushed hard until I knew I had the gap, and then just managed my advantage until the end.
“Honestly I felt really good on the bike, I was riding very smooth and in the middle of the race (Maverick) Vinales pushed quite a lot so I upped the pace a little bit to manage the gap.
“So yeah I rode in a good way and now have a really good pace with the bike so we need to keep going like this.”
Marquez’s win moves him 98 points clear of Dovizioso at the head of the riders standings, meaning should he extend this to over 100 in Thailand he’ll secure his sixth premier class title.
He remained coy when drawn on his strategy for the Buriram race, admitting that he expected a tough fight with the Ducati man at the track he narrowly beat him at last year.
“Of course the championship is now very close but we cannot relax because I want to finish the season in a strong fashion, if we end strongly we can get going straight away in 2020,” said Marquez.
“I don’t to talk too much about the championship, we go to Thailand with a target like every weekend to win the race, if we win the race we will be champion but I know (Andrea) Dovizioso is strong there as we had a great battle last year until the final lap and last corner.
“For now though I’m going to enjoy this victory and wait and see what we can do in Thailand.”
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