“Of course I see myself fighting for the title”

Eleven pilots stuck in three tenths of a second. All the MotoGP riders leave happy from the first two days of pre-season training, experienced on Saturday and Sunday at the Sepang Circuit (Malaysia) where, of course, everything ended precipitously with the typical Malay deluge, which interrupted the last hours of rehearsals that, as almost always, concluded with the surprise that a young man, the Italian Enea Bastianiniknown as ‘The Beast’, Ducati rider in the new team of MotoGP of the late Fausto Gresini, achieved the track record, stopping the clock in 1.58.131 minutes, better than the unofficial 1.58.238 of his compatriot Danilo Petrucci.

The truth is that, as recognized Marc Marquez (Honda), brilliant on his return to competition, “everyone has flown here, because the track conditions have been very good, but this is the preseason and, of course, it is not the first time that in Sepang, after giving almost all more than 100 laps around the track, we all leave happy. But this is very long, this has just started, now we will go to Indonesia and, maybe, the same thing will happen, but the important thing is when the real races start, the first four grands prix, where we all start to put ourselves in our place & rdquor ;.

a good slingshot

Márquez, who acknowledges having already forgotten his problems with his eyesight and, although he continues to have “only discomfort & rdquor; in the shoulder, humerus and right arm, he feels stronger than when he stopped running, he assures that, without a doubt, starting with the first grand prize, that is, starting in equal conditions as the others, the illusion is “to fight for the title, again, from the first race. But, I insist, we are happy with this first contact, the new Honda looks very good and not only do I say it, Pol (Espargaró), Àlex (Márquez) and ‘Taaka’ (Nakagami) say it and, when we press it , when we go in search of the clock, it comes out, which is very good & rdquor ;.

The champion from Cervera (Lleida) has assured that, indeed, the bikes, all of them, look very good. “The truth is that as the years and technology advance, the bike has more influence on the results. I’m not saying, no, that the riders can’t contribute their riding, which is sometimes decisive for the result, but now there is so much technology on the bike that everything has to fit together in order to get a good result or, at least, be competitive. I insist, you see the Aprilia and fly; you see the Suzuki, and it flies; you see the Ducati, and I don’t even tell you; our Honda and even the Yamaha, yes, true, only in the hands of Fabio, but he is the champion! He also flies & rdquor ;.

“There are, at least, 12 bikes capable of fighting for the title and, of course, for the podium in each grand prix. But, I repeat, the development of the first four races will tell us where each of us is & rdquor ;, commented MM93, who, once again, thanked his entire team and, very especially, the Doctor Sanchez Dalmau for his recovery of sight. “Of course, two months ago, I never would have imagined being as happy as I am today. The year began and someone decided that that eye should be fixed and it was fixed. At New Year’s Eve, I was annoyed and at the start of 2022 everything changed. In two weeks, I was perfect but, of course, we cannot do in two weeks the work of two months stopped, so we have to keep encouraging but be patient.”

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Regarding the good feelings of this weekend in Malaysia, Márquez, who heard his team manager, former champion Alberto Puig, be very happy with how the two days of testing had developed for Honda, did not want to launch the bells yet on the fly “The bike is different from last year. The test has gone very well for everyone, yes. But it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve left Malaysia happy, it happened, for example, in 2015, and then the year started and we had a lot of problems. I’m fine, I feel happy, I feel motivated, I’m starting to be the same as before, I’m starting to recover physically, but there’s still a lot to go.”