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Marc Marquez says he was “fighting against myself” during the closing stages of the San Marino Grand Prix, as he sought to overhaul Jorge Lorenzo for second place.
Marquez and Lorenzo spent much of the Misano race locked in a battle for the runner-up spot behind long-time race leader Andrea Dovizioso.
Lorenzo reeled in his Ducati team-mate in the final few minutes but Dovizioso resisted that charge, and Lorenzo crashed through Turn 8 on the penultimate lap.
Lorenzo’s exit promoted the pursuing Marquez into second and means he now holds a 67-point buffer over new nearest rival Dovizioso in the standings.
“When I saw that Dovi was going away, I tried to be behind Jorge, to attack him in the end,” Marquez said.
“But honestly speaking I was on the limit, I was pushing too much in some areas – but then, when you never give up, sometimes you get something.
“And this time we got those 20 points, we arrived here 59 points in front, we leave Misano 67 points [in front].”
“I was pushing too much, I was fighting against the bike.
“When you are riding fast, normally you are riding in an easy way. Today I was riding fast but I was fighting against myself.”
Marquez led the Ducati riders during Sunday morning’s warm-up session but says he was always sceptical about his race chances as the lower grip meant he had less of a chance to make up the time he was losing to Dovizioso and Lorenzo under acceleration.
“In the warm-up I was fast, but I already knew that for the race, with more temperature, then you have less grip in the corners, I cannot carry the same corner speed, and then the difference on the straight is even bigger,” he commented.
“I tried to follow them, to be aggressive on the first laps, because I knew Jorge and Dovi had something more [for pace], but today Dovi was riding perfectly.
“I was losing a lot on the two main acceleration [areas] but then I was able to recover on some brake points, but all the race, all 27 laps like this, it’s difficult.”
Marquez had been able to overtake Lorenzo at one point, but was re-passed six laps later and was starting to drop back from his rival prior to Lorenzo’s crash.
“Honestly, I was just following Ducatis,” he said. “I was not able to overtake them. When I passed Jorge, it’s because he did a mistake, he went wide, and then I passed him.
“And then okay, we fought [for] three laps, four laps, because I was aggressive in that area – but when I follow them [the Ducatis], I cannot overtake.”