Alex Marquez has admitted he “made a mistake” by “expecting things to be too easy” in the run-up to the MotoGP Malaysian Grand Prix, which he ultimately won.
The Gresini rider showed his speed at Sepang during pre-season testing in February and heads into this weekend’s 20th race of the campaign as the favorite to win.
Alex Marquez admitted he expected the same thing, but a tricky Friday with two crashes caught him up and the pressure of securing second place dictated his sprint performance.
That disappeared on Sunday, when he won the Malaysian Grand Prix by more than two seconds, taking his third win of the season.
“It’s true that we made a mistake this weekend expecting things to be too easy,” he said.
“Then we started the weekend with a crash in FP1, then another crash in practice, and then we went into Q2 in ninth place, passing just before the limit.
“It was quite mixed, the conditions and the feel of the bike were quite different compared to February here.
“The conditions on the pavement and track were really different, so step by step we were able to turn things around in a very positive direction.
“Yesterday I couldn’t ride the bike freely. I was thinking too much about being close to second in the championship and not attacking Pecco (Bagnaia) when I should have.
“The plan today was clear. I warmed up and felt a little bit better. Then the plan worked out to attack Pedro (Acosta) on the first lap, attack Pecco on the second lap, and then just manage the tires until the end of the race. It was a perfect race.”
Alex Marquez is ‘loser number one’ but ‘special’
Gresini’s second place in the championship caps off a historic year for the Marquez family, with Marc and Alex becoming the first brothers to achieve a 1-2 finish in the championship.
He attributes this feat to his Moto3 and Moto2 titles due to the fact that he was “almost close to home” for the 2023 season before the opportunity arose to join Gresini from LCR Honda.
“It’s similar because I’m second, but it’s not normal for me,” he said.
“My journey in MotoGP was not easy from the beginning. I started 2020 in a very good way with two podiums as a rookie with Repsol Honda.
“But after I moved to LCR, I suffered there for two years and in ’23 I was almost going home.
“By pure luck or something, I had a chance at Gresini.
“That’s why this is really special. I’m second and I’m the first loser.
“But it’s a different feeling because it was my brother who won. So it was perfect. It’s special because of how far we’ve come. So for that reason, second place is really good.”