Marquez meets Quartararo in 2022

At the Emilia-Romagna GP, Marc Marquez kept pace behind Francesco Bagnaia for a long time. If the Catalan slightly lost contact at the end of the race, he took advantage of the fall of his transalpine rival to score his second success in a row. This is the first time since 2019 that he has managed to accomplish such a feat. 

Better still, this is the first time he has won on a track that runs clockwise since the 2019 Japanese GP, i.e. 735 days. “I'm happy,” said Marquez, who started from seventh place on the grid after falling in Q2. I'm happy for me, but also the Repsol Honda team, because we sign a double, it's important for the HRC. Above all, we won on a circuit that turns right. That was one of my goals. I had already said it on Thursday during the press conference that I would have liked to finish on the podium here or in Portimao. We won here after a very fast race. The way we managed the race was very good. It's true that Pecco was faster than us. The lap where I gave up was when he was attacking a lot and he crashed. We were able to attack, be fast and competitive. There is also our rhythm (…). Driving at a pace close to the lap record is something very good for me, the team and to prepare for 2022.”

🏆VICTORY🎉#EmiliaRomagnaGP @MotoGP pic.twitter.com/laMzjuADo3

- Marc Márquez (@marcmarquez93) October 24, 2021

By starting from the third row, Marquez also emphasized that starts are now his strong point. “When I arrived in MotoGP, it was one of my weak points, explained the man who scored the third highest number of points since the resumption after the summer break behind Quarterly and Bagnaia. It’s now one of my strong points. This year I realized that qualifying was not my strong point. So I started to focus on starts. I went from seventh to third place on the first lap, because I knew that the two Ducatis were going to attack from the start (…). Today the feeling was good and the bike was working well. In the last laps, the gap between the others and me was significant and that is something crucial. Maintaining this gap means I was riding the right way. » 

And regarding his right arm, the Honda driver added: “In the last laps, I was suffering, but the fact that the conditions were wet all weekend allowed me to arrive fresh for the race, with energy. As I stood up, I felt that my arm was there and that helped. »

“He was the fastest, most consistent and best driver of the year…” — Marc Marquez

The eight-time world champion also gave his impressions of Fabio Quartararo's title. “We can talk to say that it was important blabla… but it’s not our day,” he confided. It's Fabio's day, the champion's day. He was the fastest, the most consistent and the best driver of the year… therefore the champion. He had an incredible season. He was also capable of suffering. Even while suffering, he was able to finish in the top five, or even on the podium. It’s time to learn from what he did and we will have to try to fight against the champion in 2022.”

During his press conference, Quartararo did not fail to respond that he had “still things to finish” with the Spanish. The appointment is made for 2022 and if the two adversaries give us battles like in 2019, the season promises to be spicy.