Marc Marquez: Feels like I won, day I’ll never forget, ‘impossible’ to repeat

On paper, Marc Marquez lost his first German Grand Prix race at the Sachsenring since 2009 in the 125cc class on Sunday.

Yet the eight-time world champion was all smiles after the race.

“I feel like I won. I mean, this is the real feeling,” Marquez told MotoGP.com.

That’s because Marquez not only finished a gruelling weekend of injuries, technical issues and a poor qualifying in a surprise second place - but formed a unique podium double with younger brother Alex.

It was the first time two brothers have shared a ‘MotoGP’-era podium and the first time in the premier class since Nobuatsu and Takuma Aoki at Imola in 1997.

According to the #93, it was also probably the first and last time he shares a MotoGP rostrum with Alex as a team-mate.

“I'm super happy to share the podium with my brother. It's a day I will never forget because it will be difficult to repeat in the future,” Marc said.

“Honestly speaking, this season, I say it will be impossible [to repeat].

“Why? Because it's difficult for me to be on the podium. For him, also. So to find the same Sunday when both of us are on the podium was something a bit unreal. And then in a dry race, a very fast race. He's a very talented rider and today he showed it.

“I hope my Dad and Mum enjoyed it because maybe it’s the last time we share a podium. We will enjoy it as if it’s the last time!”

The post-race atmosphere would have been more awkward if Jorge Martin hadn’t crashed out of the lead on the penultimate lap, with Marc having caught his brother for what was then shaping up to be a family battle over third place.

“When I was catching my brother, there were many question marks,” Marc admitted. “I thought, ‘What can I do: Attack? Take a risk? If something happens, what happens? I mean, it was also a nice podium for him.

“But unfortunately for Martin, but good for us, because this is racing, and we were both on the podium, which made these last two laps easier.”

Given the weekend the older Marquez had experienced up until Sunday, few would begrudge him a little luck.

“The weekend was not good. We had a lot of technical issues and I made that big mistake in Turn 11 that affected everything,” said Marquez, referring to the huge Friday highside that left him with a broken left index finger and painful bruising to his ribs.

But after salvaging sixth with the aid of the strongest painkillers available in the Sprint race, the Spaniard felt much better on Sunday morning and was back into ‘Marquez-mode’.

“I didn't expect to finish on the podium but the first and the most important thing is that today I got up and felt better,” he explained. “I said to the team, ‘Today I can ride aggressive. I can ride in Marquez mode’. Yesterday I was being super smooth.”

“The ribs were much better so I could breathe and move around on the bike. The finger in the end is broken and it's moving a bit, but now we will fix it and it was not a big problem.”

But it was far from a hassle-free recovery from 13th place, Marquez breaking his screen after tangling with Franco Morbidelli in an impact big enough to also deploy his airbag.

Dropping back to sixth behind Enea Bastianini, Marquez reacted to the setback by going ‘all-in’.

“My plan was don't stress too much the tyres and try to make the comeback in a slow way, because it’s super difficult to overtake here. In fact, the contact with Morbidelli was unexpected and I lost a lot of time.

“Two laps before he had the same move, and I just rolled the gas. But then when he went wide again there was a contact that I didn't expect. Fortunately for both of us, we were OK.

“But that was also the point that made me click: ‘Now all-in’!

“I had a good battle with Bastianini. We overtake two times. Then I caught [Morbidelli] in two laps and overtook him aggressively, but it was the only move to overtake him.”

Marc then began reeling in Alex for what looked like a Marquez vs Marquez podium showdown, before Martin’s exit.

“If you said to me on Thursday, ‘You will not win, but you will share the podium with your brother,’ I would say, ‘Okay!’

“Then the weekend became super difficult, but this second place covers everything.

“Before the race, I took a cocktail [of painkillers], but tonight I will take another type of cocktail!” he joked.

Marquez remains third in the world championship, 56 points behind new title leader and future factory Ducati team-mate Francesco Bagnaia.