Marco Bezzecchi
Alex Marquez has admitted that he decided to change his tactics during the German Grand Prix Sprint after seeing what Marc Marquez did.
On Saturday, seven-time MotoGP world champion Marc won the German Grand Prix Sprint, coming home ahead of Alex and VR46’s Fabio Di Giannantonio.
It was a dominant day from the Marquez Brothers, with Marc securing pole position just ahead of Alex.
Although Marc led from start to finish, it was a close race, with the 33-year-old winning by a small margin of 0.368 seconds; third-place Di Giannantonio finished 0.813 seconds behind the winner.
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Alex Marquez changed tactics after seeing Marc Marquez manage his tyres during German GP Sprint
Speaking after the session, Alex admitted that he decided to change his approach during the race after seeing what Marc did around seven or eight laps into the race.
Alex told DAZN that he was hoping to beat Marc off the line, which would have enabled him to push a little harder despite not being 100% fit after recovering from his injury.
The Gresini rider then revealed that he realised Marc was starting to manage his tyres, so he decided to follow his brother’s tactic, which allowed him to eventually fend off Di Giannantonio and keep second place.
Alex said: “This is another small step toward getting back to my best form. I was hoping to beat Marc off the line, and I knew I might have a little extra pace in the first 10 laps. If I had been in the lead, I could have pushed harder. But it went well.
“I saw that I had a little something extra during the first three laps; I tried to find a gap, but it’s really difficult here. At one point, on the downhill section, I ran wide while trying to attack, but I realised it wasn’t really feasible.
“After seven or eight laps, when Marc started managing his tyres, I thought, ‘Okay, this guy knows what he’s doing.’ From then on, I tried to manage mine too; thanks to that, I was in good shape by the end of the race and managed to defend second place.
“That will be crucial for tomorrow. It’s true that Marc tends to make more of a difference when using the medium rear tyre. Today, with the soft tyre, we were all a bit more evenly matched.
“Tomorrow’s race—30 laps—will be very interesting and very long. I also rode with a bit of caution—not out of fear, but simply not wanting to make a mistake, because after my injury, this is a huge step for my confidence and for moving forward.”
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It is looking like a positive weekend for Alex, who is still working his way back to his best physical condition after being involved in a huge crash during the Catalan Grand Prix.
Having had surgery to fix fractures in his clavicle and vertebrae, Alex returned in Czechia before pulling out on the Saturday.
The 30-year-old then took part in the Dutch Grand Prix, finishing fifth, two places ahead of Marc.
Looking ahead to Sunday, Alex will be hoping to execute his launch off the line and aim to be leading the pack into Turn One.
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