Marc Marquez may have made the San Marino Grand Prix look closer than it really was.
That is the view of his younger brother Álex Márquez, who believes the factory Ducati rider was carefully managing the gap to his rivals rather than fighting at the absolute limit for victory at Misano.
Marc eventually secured his fifth grand prix win of the season, finishing ahead of Álex and Pedro Acosta. The closing stages appeared to set up a tense battle, with the top three separated by around one second.
But Álex said Marc always seemed to have the situation under control.
“When I overtook Jorge, Marc was nearly a second in front of us, so I said, ‘okay, try to calm down a little bit and attack later on,’” Álex explained.
“But he managed that gap in a really good way. When I was pushing, he was pushing. When I was a little bit slower, he was slower. So, he was playing a little bit with us.”
Marc's approach became even more calculated after Marco Bezzecchi crashed out of the lead at Turn 13 on the opening lap. Bezzecchi had started from pole and was one of Marc's main title rivals, but his early retirement immediately changed the championship picture.
Source: Suara Garut
Jorge Martin also challenged for the lead before an arm-pump issue dropped him out of contention midway through the race. With two major championship threats no longer fighting for victory, Álex felt Marc had little reason to take unnecessary risks.
“I think with the crash of Bez and playing for a championship, he relaxed a little bit too much at one moment,” Álex said.
“Later on, he was not riding in a way that he put all the risk. I think he was riding at 99%. He just put his 100% for a few laps to make the gap and to keep the gap, but later on he was playing a little bit.”
Álex had started the race from ninth after crashing twice during qualifying, which also affected his chances of challenging his brother earlier in the race.
He admitted that the effort required to fight through the field from the third row had taken some energy, but he still managed to finish second and share the podium with Marc at Misano.
For Marc, the victory was another major boost in a championship fight that has rapidly shifted in his favour. He now shares the championship lead with Martin on 274 points but holds first place thanks to his five wins compared with Martin's one.
After a race that looked tense from the outside, Álex's assessment suggests the title leader may have had more in reserve than his rivals realised.
