Alex Marquez admits he “suffered” with his Michelin tyres on course to his second place at Sunday’s Portugal MotoGP race.
Marquez headed into both races as the favourite after setting the pace during Friday practice, despite starting from fifth on the grid after a qualifying crash.
While the Gresini rider took the victory after prevailing in a ferocious battle with Pedro Acosta and Marco Bezzecchi, he could only manage second behind Bezzecchi on Sunday.
Marquez admitted the Aprilia man was simply faster than he was, but had to fight to retain second ahead of a fast-charging Acosta.
“Honestly speaking, Marco was faster than us today,” Marquez said via Crash.net.
“From the warm-up, I saw him flying and said, ‘Wow, it will be tough.’ But okay, nothing to lose, we’ll try to go with him.”
“The pace was super fast. Eventually, I destroyed my front tyre on the right side.”
“I suffered to keep the second position from Pedro,” Marquez added.
“Anyway, I tried my best. Yesterday, we were the fastest on track, but today Marco was much better than us.
“I was expecting Marco and Aprilia to be super fast here after last year with Vinales. They made the click on Sunday, they were unbeatable.”
Alex Marquez reveals how ‘unbeatable’ Aprilia made the difference in Portugal
Bezzecchi was able to improve on Sunday by following Marquez in the final sector during the Sprint, which had been where the Spaniard had made the difference.
Marquez also suggested that the Italian’s superior tyre conservation allowed him to have enough in reserve to defeat the Gresini rider over the Grand Prix distance.
“I was expecting Marco and Aprilia to be super fast here after last year with Vinales. They made the click on Sunday, they were unbeatable
“Marco especially had better corner entry, he was able to keep the line, and for that reason, I destroyed more the front tyre.
“I had a lot of graining because I needed to force the bike too much in the last corner. Marco was flowing more than me.”
Marquez also hinted at the uneven track surface creating problems, stating it was a weakness the Ducati riders had struggled with in Phillip Island.
“The point where we were struggling a little bit in Australia, all the Ducati guys, was the fast corners with bumps.
“Here we had the same feeling, and we need to improve for the future.”
Discussion about this post