In Thailand Marc Marquez thought about a tire poker, but decided against it – Joan Mir is happy about a weekend without crashes
Marc Marquez mixed it up in Thailand with his Honda in the chasing pack. In the sprint he fought a close duel with Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia). Marquez prevailed in the short race and finished fourth. On Sunday he was also involved in a few duels, but he lost out.
After 26 laps Marquez finished seventh behind Espargaro and Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha). Since Espargaro received a time penalty, he moved up to sixth. The race was fun for the two-time Thailand winner.
“I lost some time in a close duel with Aleix,” Marquez laughed. “We lost a second and a half in one lap. He had more pace, though. In the sprint I beat him, this time he beat me.”
“When Fabio overtook me, I got closer to him again. I was already thinking about the last lap, but I ran over the bike. I then finished the race with my pace. Besides, it was important to finish the race. That’s why I stayed calm.”
So no risk, although Marquez thought about playing poker with the medium tire like his brother Alex: “It’s true that the hard tire is more consistent. But we have a lot of trouble with the performance. It drops off a lot. You also have to drive very differently.”
“In the sprint we saw that the wear of the soft tire was very high. It’s right that I thought about making an aggressive decision with the soft tire. Maybe it would have been okay, I don’t know. “
“In the end I decided to use the same tire as everyone. I went out and was hot. I attacked right from the start because I realized that if I didn’t do that, I’d get passed by someone every lap after the exit of turn 1.”
“So I figured attack is the best defense. That’s what you do on the brakes. But it wasn’t enough,” Marquez concludes. Overall, he is satisfied with Buriram: “I wanted to have a stable weekend. And we managed that. “
Joan Mir stresses: “Did not fall “
It was also a stable weekend for his teammate Joan Mir. He finished twelfth in the Sprint and Grand Prix. “The most positive thing about this weekend is that I didn’t crash,” Mir points to the statistics.
“I also told my team that. I was able to finish both races. The pace was good. That will pay off because we can take some confidence with us. My pace was solid, I was able to overtake and it was going forward. The position is not a reward for the effort. “
“If I had started further in front, I would have been in the top 10,” Mir believes. “The problems are the same all year. It’s very frustrating. Today a rider can only make a difference in the braking phase. That’s what I tried.”
“Mentally and physically, it’s very hard. You close up to the guy in front on the brakes, but then they straighten the bike and pull away again. You have to do that constantly for 26 laps. In the last laps I was mentally destroyed. Also the tire was at the end because you have more spin.”
But overall Mir also draws a positive conclusion: “On the first and second day of the weekend we still had a lot of trouble. Then on Sunday it was better and I could attack on the brakes. The bike enabled me to do more. I think we have to be satisfied with our work.”
In the manufacturers’ standings, Honda has again overtaken Yamaha by one point and holds penultimate place.
