Marc Marquez has admitted he is still "struggling" at the Misano MotoGP despite being fastest in FP1 and only 0.1s behind Marco Bezzecchi on Friday afternoon. The Ducati rider, fresh from a perfect double at Aragon, acknowledged that his performance at Misano is not as strong as it was at Aragon.
"It's true that in the end I finished second, but it was not like Aragon, when I was in the top three of the standings for all the practice," Marquez said. "I was struggling a bit and we need to work, we need to try to find something more."
Nevertheless, Marquez remains optimistic ahead of qualifying, which he believes will be crucial. "It's true that in the fast lap I was there. But as we see, everything is super close and tomorrow will be very important the qualifying practice," he added. "Because if you make some mistake, you can start in the second or even third row, and this is the biggest problem now in MotoGP."
Aside from Bezzecchi, the next four riders were on Ducatis, with the Italian's championship-leading team-mate Jorge Martin the next-best Aprilia in tenth. According to Marquez, Misano is one of the tracks where everything is more equal. "As we see in the lap times, Aprilia is strong in the fast corners and Ducati is strong in the stop-and-go corners," he explained. "So in the end, Aprilia is strong in sector 3, and Ducati is stronger in another sector. Every bike has its potential and our job is to try to find the best for our riding style."
However, Marquez ruled out trying to squeeze more from his Desmosedici through sector three, which includes the fearsome Curvone. "Not more for me there! It's not the place to find more," he said. "Bez and Aprilia are super fast in these kind of corners. In fast areas like Assen and Silverstone, and we know that they are very strong. We need to try to understand if we can be stronger in other areas."
Marquez described Misano as more physical than Silverstone due to the lack of tyre degradation. Having struggled for endurance in his right arm at the British MotoGP, Marquez admitted he managed his efforts on Friday. "I learned from Silverstone. I tried to approach in a different way on Friday. My target is to perform in the best way possible Saturday and Sunday," he said.
The nine-time world champion also rated Misano as his third-favourite clockwise circuit, behind Austria and Motegi, while insisting he would be satisfied with podium finishes this weekend. "For riding, I prefer Austria to here, but then in Austria I won less. I prefer Motegi more than this one, but in Motegi I also won less," he said. "This is a track where I have had success in the past, and we will try this year to be close to the top guy, who I believe will be Marco." He added: "Yes, the podium, I will sign right now."
Marquez will start Saturday's Sprint 19 points behind Martin and five ahead of Bezzecchi in the MotoGP World Championship standings. With the competition heating up, qualifying will be a crucial moment for Marquez to maintain his position at the top.
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