The smile has not disappeared from his face despite the authentic and endless viacrucis that he is experiencing. He not only stays shiny in the face of Marc Marquez (Honda) but even the Portuguese Miguel Oliveira (KTM)winner this year in Indonesia and whose second profession is dentistry, has designated that smile as the best in the ‘paddock’ when a young local pilot asked him which smile would stand out from the world.
And it is that, I insist, despite the one that is falling on him, MM93 He is still excited, not only with his profession, his sports career, one of the most impressive in history and his role in the championship, now retired Valentino Rossi (By the way, he has not returned to the stage he claimed to love), but he thinks again that he still has time, as the champion himself recognized Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) to aspire to the big title.
hard win
“I can’t fool myself, it doesn’t make much sense,” says Márquez in portimao (Portugal), the scene where, last year, he reappeared after nine months of injuries. “At the moment, the best thing I’ve done has been a Top-5 and, therefore, if the best I’ve achieved so far is that, it won’t be easy to win again, but I’m very, very motivated to achieve it. It will be difficult, but I have to do everything possible and impossible to achieve it as soon as possible”.
[Consulta la clasificación del Mundial de MotogGP]
Márquez, who came back from last position (24th) to sixth in the GP the EEUUwhich was held in Austin (Texas), acknowledges that “in that last race I was very tactful not to exceed my physical limit despite the fact that, in effect, I staged a great comeback. He wanted to control and survive physically. Any race approach goes through the first two laps and, in Austin, I found myself last in the first corner and I had no choice but to push, push and come back”.
The eight-time motorcycling world champion is delighted to return to Portimao. “I really like this track, like the rest of the riders because it’s different, it doesn’t have much to do with the others. The track goes up and down, it has very fast corners, it has banked and counterbanked corners, as Miguel (Oliveira, local driver) told me, it is very important to flow on the track, have a good rhythm, otherwise, if you miss the lap fighting with the bike and with the circuit then, forget it, you won’t be fast, because the circuit, in addition to being narrow, is small and bad weather can complicate our weekend”.
the unexpected leader
It is clear that Márquez still wants to fight for the title and that the fact that, in just four races, ten riders were on the podium shows that all the places of honor are going to be very, very much discussed this year, although there are those who think that the start of the European tour in Portugal and, next week, in Jerez, could change everything. “I am still in my thirteen: I have to believe in myself again, I have to recover my solidity, I have to feel the bike and that the team, as it is doing, accompany me. For now, Honda already knows what happened at the start of Austin, that it failed and will not happen again.
[Consulta el calendario de MotoGP]
The Italian Enea Bastianini (Ducati), the World Championship leader with the fewest points in history after the first four races (which shows, repeat, the curiosity of this championship), was with Márquez at today’s press conference in Portimao. “This continues to be a dream for me and, yes, I have to admit that I expected a good start, but not winning two races, nor being the leader in Europe”.
