Winner in the last race held in Austin, Marc Márquez arrived at Misano with a positive inertia that, however, was slowed down by an error in FP2 that prevented him from “squaring up” a good lap to get into the top 10 at the end of the first day of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, which started this Friday.
With dry races forecast on Sunday, the fact that this first day of work was held in rainy conditions and on a wet track could become an anecdote.
“The day may or may not be anecdotal, because Saturday looks better, but it can also be in the water. We’ll see what conditions we find in FP3, which is almost like qualifying, because many fast drivers could be left out. This afternoon things have not turned out as expected, we have not taken advantage of the situation”, admitted Márquez, who finished 14th in the second free practice, 1.5 seconds behind Jack Miller, the fastest.
“In the morning it went well (2nd) but in the afternoon we didn’t know how to balance the issue to make a good lap. The assessment is not good because we are not in the top 10. They say that Sunday will be dry, but the race starts with the starting position on the grid, and that is decided on Saturday. Starting from the first three rows makes things a lot easier for you”, he insisted.
One of the news of the day, without a doubt, is the announcement by the FIM and Dorna of limiting the minimum age to compete in the World Championship to 18 years from 2023.
“That access to the World Cup be changed to 18 years is good, I think it is a good time to do it, something needed to be done with everything that has happened this year. It has been announced for 2023 and it is an important change. All the access steps have to be modified and you cannot have drivers for so long in promotion cups, that is why it is not done in 2022”, he revealed.
Precisely, Márquez rose with only 15 years and breaking records of precocity.
“I went up very young, but each one is a particular case. In general, I think it’s a very good decision, the mistakes are not the same at 15 as at 18, I’m happy with this news”, he stressed.
“It is also a success to extend the careers of many riders who have arrived at the World Championship very young and have lost their way very young. We must maintain the current scale to reach the World Cup, but raising the age”, settled the Catalan.
(Click on this link or on the image to see the photos of Marc Márquez at the 2021 MotoGP Emilia Romagna GP)
