Alex Marquez made an immediate statement at Motegi. The Gresini rider topped the Practice session for the Japanese GP, shattered the absolute lap record with a 1:42.811, and beat Pedro Acosta and his brother Marc Marquez. After the session, he spoke to the media, including our collaborator Manuel Pecino, about the keys to a promising Friday, though he remained cautious.
“I think we were able to go well from the start. Everything happened naturally, and that's important: not forcing things too much. It's positive,” he said, before adding there is still room for improvement: “Of course, tomorrow we need to improve a lot. Everything is very close, and with a point and a half, the position can change a lot. Qualifying will be important. But yes, I feel good in the time attack and also in the race pace.”
However, Alex is aware of Marc's threat. “Of course, we will improve because Marc was super fast in race pace. But we are not bad and we have to keep pushing and working, because starting a weekend like this is positive.”
On who his target is, Alex remains neutral: “Pedro worked more with the soft tyre and Marc with the medium. Friday is difficult to draw conclusions and get a clear idea of how the rest of the weekend will be. Tomorrow, especially, we will have a good pace. But in the time attack, if we make some mistakes, it's difficult.”
The #73 already knows that Saturday will require a change of focus, with the soft tyre taking centre stage and the race strategy still to be decided: “Tomorrow we'll see which riders are stronger in the time attack. But it seems I also worked more with the medium and tomorrow I'll do more with the soft. We have to analyse and see at what point in the race, especially, we'll switch from soft to medium.”
Alex also praised the new Motegi asphalt, especially the feeling from the front end: “Very good, very good. The new asphalt helped me have less movement from the front compared to last year. So I can stop the bike much better and the grip level is quite good. The adherence is not that high, but the front and the way of stopping the bike are much better than last year. I'm looking forward to improving tomorrow.”
But he also pointed out a risk that has already become evident: the lack of references and excessive pressure on the front tyre at corner entry. “It's not easy to have that level of grip at corner entry because many riders are struggling. We have to be careful and find a solution.”
With a record and positive notes, Alex Marquez is ready for Saturday's challenge, where qualifying and tyre management will be key. Can he maintain momentum and challenge Marc and Acosta? We'll find out on track.
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