Márquez: "The podium is very far away and it's not the goal either"

The one from Honda has already given notice that his return was not going to be, for the remainder of the year, anecdotal in the Misano tests, even though the runner assures that he is here to recover from his fourth operation on his right arm and build the 2023 bike.

And if in the test he sent signals, this Friday at the start of the Aragón Grand Prix Marc Márquez competed as if he had never left here, finished with the eighth fastest time and carried out an attack at the same time with a scare and a save included. “And those that have not been seen,” he said with a big smile, which is the permanent state in which the Honda has been installed, smiling, happy and convinced.

So much so that rivals already see him as a clear threat for this weekend. Aleix Espargaró assured that he was not surprised by his performance and is waiting for him in the top positions. Jorge Martín said that in the test he had already seen him very fast. And Fabio Quartararo added that “I see him fighting for victory on Sunday.”

But Marc wants to go step by step and he cut short the euphoria surrounding Honda this weekend.

“The podium is very far away, there are many riders who go very fast and that is not the goal either,” Marc said on Friday.

“For me, doing something great would be to finish the race in a good way and not being far from the top five, but not fighting there either, now is a time when it’s time to be where the bike and the body ask for. Today I have felt good, but if tomorrow I feel worse, I will have to drop a point. We are here to compete, in the current MotoGP if you relax you are the last, if you relax two tenths you do not drop two positions, you drop ten at once, “he warned.

But, for now, the 93 does not relax and even in the rhythms he was competitive.

“If we look at the papers, the rhythms, it is possible that with what we have done today I could opt for an eighth or tenth place, but it is also an unknown to see how I will endure the 23 laps, the longest stint I have done has been four or five laps. I’m here to push as hard as my body can hold me. I know that sooner or later, I hope later, the first crash will come, it’s normal, but today went well and the most important thing is that I found better in the evening than in the morning.

What does not change is that it has been to arrive and become the first Honda.

“Today I was the first Honda, but at a pace level far from where we intend to be. It is not the main objective to be, but it is a motivation, but it is a bike that I know. You arrive after three months and you ride on instinct. And The way I instinctively ride this bike is unnatural for my riding style. I said it in preseason and I repeat it now, then you adapt, but I’m riding unnaturally, not safely, and the rest of the riders in Honda passes them. You know where you have to brake, where you have to open the throttle and where you have to turn, and you do that one way or another, fighting more or less, and you can make up for that by one lap, but to make race we need a bike that is understood a little better”, he argued.

“In Misano I surprised myself and here I was surprised again, especially because I felt better in the afternoon. I know what I’ve been through, what I’m going through, I know how I am, I know where I intend to go and then it will be the physicist who dictates whether or not I can get there. I have accepted what I have in my arm for a long time and we have to continue working and improving to see where one hundred percent of this arm is now, and we will not know that until winter But for now I’m still working in my own way, but it’s clear that I’m in one of my favorite circuits, others like Japan or Thailand have arrived and we’ll suffer a lot more.”

At the moment Marc doesn’t want to compare himself to anyone at the moment when the strong riders are in the best moment of the season.

“You see the references with respect to other riders and other bikes and the conclusion is that we have to work, not only me, but also Honda, because there are above all two brands that are far above the rest, we are aware and today in the box worked in the right way. Tomorrow I will start trying big things, even if it is not the best for a weekend, but I have returned to prepare for 2023 and that means sacrificing other things”.

“The 2021 bike was more natural for my riding but it was slower, the 2023 bike is not natural but in the global calculation we go faster. We have to find a compromise. But in a 1.50 minute circuit everything is very tight. No I’m riding loose, but I got twice as tired in the morning because I was very stiff. The intention is to finish the race and if I’m tired I’ll slow down, it’s a matter of accepting it and finishing,” he warned.

Finally Marc explained that he did not want to make any changes to his bike compared to the one he rode in Italy, his last race.

“The bike is the same as Mugello, I preferred to start from there, the other time I came back I made the changes for the other riders and I had to go back to my own. I started with the Austin bike, I made the time with the new swingarm (the aluminum Kalex) and I have not yet introduced the aerodynamic update”, settled the one from Cervera.

Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team