Alex Marquez admitted not “braking so late” after his crash from the Sprint lead helped him take a redemption MotoGP victory in Barcelona on Sunday.
The Gresini rider was by far the fastest rider throughout the Catalan weekend, earning pole position with two all-time lap records, and backed it up by defeating brother Marc Marquez in Sunday’s race.
Marquez extended the title battle by virtue of his Grand Prix victory, preventing his brother from leaving Barcelona with a big enough margin to have a chance of winning in Misano.
However, it could have been an even better weekend for the Gresini rider, who crashed out of a 1.3s lead with four laps remaining of Saturday’s Sprint, handing the win to brother Marc.
Marquez revealed he still thought about the mistake in the Sunday morning Warm Up session, but admitted he had learned where the limit was due to his crash.
“That mistake is still painful in my head, but [the win] was the best way to forget that,” he said via Motorsport.
“Also, I need to say that mistake helped me to win today because I was already braking so late in that corner and I made that mistake.
“I did a perfect race today. Luckily, I didn’t make any mistakes, just always on the line, always in good shape. So happy for today.”
He added: “It’s true that we made a mistake and it cost us a lot of points. But it was the best advice not to make this mistake today.
“I was really concentrating on the line, I think I made no mistakes today. I did all the laps on the line. Just trying to manage the tyres in the best way.”
Alex Marquez: ‘I needed to take revenge on Turn 10’ after second MotoGP victory
Following his victory, Marquez also felt that he needed to “take revenge” on Turn 10, where he crashed in the Sprint race.
The Spanish rider admitted he “showed both middle fingers” as part of his celebrations to show he won his mental battle against the corner.
“The most special [moment] was Turn 12, for sure, because it was in front of the fans and everything,” he said.
“But when I was going to turn 10, I said I need to make [a stop]. I hated that corner today and I said I need to take revenge. I did the roll and [showed] both middle fingers, like, ‘you are here but today I won’.
“Before the race I already thought that if I win I need to make that. And then I was there I [showed the] fingers, like ‘f**k off’.”
Marquez also admitted he felt forced to extend his lead in the closing stages of Sunday’s race due to seeing the gap between himself and his brother on his pit board.
He also revealed his Barcelona victory felt more special than his first win in Jerez as both brothers were on track to see the chequered flag.
“I would say it’s not easy to see Marc behind you, his name on the [pit board],” Marquez said.
“Many times I said to guys who put the name, ‘just forget it’. It’s really difficult because he is a rider that you know will never give up.
“He will be on the limit, closing the front and the rear but he will try. You are never relaxed when you have Marc behind.”
He added: “Seven laps to the end, I said, ‘if you have something more, just try to show it, you need it now because Marc is close to me’.
“So I tried the best in my moment, I was able to make a 1:40.2 lap again. So, so happy. Jerez was really special but this one with Marc on track even more.”
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