Marc Marquez beaten in “arm-wrestle” but “dog-fight” tipped for Sunday at Mugello
Marc Marquez gesture to Pecco Bagnaia "sporting, but not friendly"
Marc Marquez has eradicated his biggest weakness and will relish a scrap in Sunday’s main race at the Italian MotoGP, it is claimed.
Marquez was forced to settle for P2 at Mugello in Saturday’s sprint behind Francesco Bagnaia.
Gresini’s Marquez expertly passed Pramac’s Jorge Martin, who later crashed out, but could not catch Bagnaia.
“Marquez had more race pace,” TNT Sports’ Sylvain Guintoli said about the battle with Martin.
“He tried to overtake Martin on the straight.
“He has to go on the left side, the outside at Turn 1. Martin held position. He was good on the brakes, just match the guy on the outside on the brakes and there is no way through.
“But Marquez found a solution. Lap 6, he went on the other side.
“When you go on the right side you have to be careful that you don’t go too early. “You have to go on the paint, maximum risk. He outbraked Martin.
“Marquez had the pace, similar to Pecco’s. That’s good for tomorrow.
“Today was more of an arm-wrestle at distance. Hopefully tomorrow they can be closer and we have a dog-fight!”
Marquez gesture 'sporting, but not friendly'
Marquez is consistently battling the factory-spec Ducatis of Bagnaia and Martin despite adjusting to year-old machinery this season.
His Saturday at Mugello hinted at overcoming his major flaw in qualifying too.
“We tend to forget that. Marquez is on the Ducati of last year,” Guintoli added.
“Which, at the moment, doesn’t [suit] anybody else.
“All of the other riders are really struggling. Di Giannantonio finished last season in a strong way, Bezzecchi was competitive, Alex Marquez as well.
“The other guys aren’t getting on with it. But Marc makes it work.
“His weakest point, until here in Mugello, was qualifying. Now it looks like he’s got the pace with a new tyre, as well.
“When he got past, straight away he had the better pace and did the fastest lap.
“Marquez has the one-lap pace. I get the feeling he is still progressing, still getting better.”
Marquez respectfully patted the victorious Bagnaia moments after the chequered flag.
“Nice to see the touch, the gesture,” said Michael Laverty.
“There was bad blood between these two in Portimao and there will be more, as the season progresses.
“But I liked the gesture from Marc, giving Pecco his dues.”
Guintoli added: “It wasn’t friendly. It was sporting, but not friendly, no no.
“It’s respect. That’s Marc saying ‘I could not catch you’.
“In his mind he is thinking ‘wait until tomorrow!’”
Martin’s lead at the top of the championship has been cut to 27 points by Bagnaia.
Marquez is third, 33 points off Martin.
“Pecco meant business,” Laverty analysed.
“He is fired up this weekend and the home crowd are willing him on.
“He got a fantastic jump off the line. Unfortunately for Vinales, he got swallowed up.
“Martin, I thought, would want to respond immediately because he knew the speed that Pecco has had all weekend, and he couldn’t afford to let him get a gap.
“Bezzecchi was there, matching his pace. Back and forth between Martin and Bezzecchi.
“Martin was then throwing everything at it - unfortunately he threw too much at it.”
Laverty said about Martin’s crash: “The lap before, I noticed he was in deep. “Trying to match Marc on the brakes.
“He got in too hot, and the front tucked under. Not big, in terms of an error.
“But at that stage, with grip dropping, he was labouring to match Marc.
“It’s only the second mistake he’s made this year in race trim. They don’t want to be making those mistakes. It will haunt them tonight.”
James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
