Although Marc Marquez hasn’t turned his first pole into a Podium challenge in Japanese MotoGP, he had a pain-free race following his arm fracture in 2020. This allowed him to go on the attacks in the closing laps.
He overtook Miguel Oliveira in fourth place, showing that he matched the season's best result. He expressed his happiness by saying it was a solid race, and the best thing about it was that he did not feel any pain while riding. Although he thought his arm was becoming lazy and tired, he did not witness any pain, which is vital.
That is why he could attack Oliveria. He said that he had a feeling of attacking somebody in the last lap a long time ago. However, he could not concentrate in the past due to his pain. He said that this time everything was under control.
He added that after a single lap time attack, he is not too far to ride the way he wants. However, making a constant pace and controlling unexpected moments like shaking on the brakes or change of direction, he still needs some improvements.
When Marquez switched his preference from complex to the soft rear tires on the grid, it suggested he would make a sturdy early push. The only issue he faced was the mapping issue. It made him cross the first lap in the fifth position.
To this reference, he said that he considered the only point unlucky when putting the soft rear tire into attack in the beginning. He lost much of his time on the first lap, leading many riders to overtake him. But, when he changed the map, the problem disappeared. Although it is a small problem, being in a bigger group affects a lot.
Normal Weekend Will Be From 7th To 9th: Marquez.
Despite his confidence boost thanks to his pain-free right arm, Marquez knows the peculiarities of the Motegi circuit and the weather-stopping exercises that help hide the RCV's technical flaws.
Marquez, after being 7.7 seconds behind the winner, Jack Miller, said that arm level and bike level are two different things. The arms situation tends to improve with riding more kilometers, but the bike needs improvements. Despite being a good weekend, Saturday's rain helped him to keep fresh or start from the pole position.
Moreover, they must keep calm as the circuit minimally affects their bike's weak points. That is why he was faster than FP1. Therefore, he is always honest and believes to be between 7th to 9th position and not 4th.
When he crashed his warm-up, he was warned that the work was yet to be done. He said that it is one of the points he is struggling with this year. Whenever he has front moments, he is used to riding his Honda like this. However, he was not overriding in the morning, and it looked like he just went down.
He had a similar crash in Aragon too. So, it is there where he does not have any information. He feels positive in the left corner, which helps him to push more. So, he thinks of himself as lucky to crash at the warm-up because if he didn’t, he would have possibly hit in the race.