MotoGP Japanese GP
Marquez: Japan MotoGP race “not the time” to think about comeback win
Marc Marquez says the Japanese Grand Prix is “not the time” to think about fighting for a comeback MotoGP win, despite ending a three-year pole drought on Saturday at Motegi.
Lewis Duncan
Edited: Sep 24, 2022, 7:11 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
The Honda rider dominated a delayed wet qualifying in Japan by over two tenths to score his first MotoGP pole since the 2019 Motegi round 1071 days ago.
Marquez is still rebuilding his physical fitness following a fourth major operation on the right arm he badly broke in 2020, which forced him out for three months between the Italian GP and last weekend’s Aragon round.
With Sunday’s Japanese GP expected to be dry, Marquez doesn’t believe he will be able to maintain strength in his right shoulder through to the finish to be able to fight for the podium.
Asked if he was ready to run at the front on Sunday, Marquez said: “No. I mean, tomorrow we will come back to our natural place right now.
“Of course, I would like to be on top, of course I would like to fight for the podium, for top five. But it’s not the time, this is what I believe.
“Always when I have a small chance I will try because I’m like this and my character is the same as when I arrived in MotoGP.
“But tomorrow will be a very long race. I already felt on Friday that here I will struggle to be consistent and attacking all the laps.”
Marquez’s Motegi pole marks Honda’s first since Pol Espargaro topped qualifying at Silverstone last year, while the marque has gone without a podium since Qatar this year.
Though he is keen to downplay the significance of his comeback pole, Marquez admits Honda “needs these small achievements” to remain motivated for 2023.
“It’s only a pole position, it’s in the wet,” he added.
“But in the situation we are in right now with the team, with Honda, struggling a lot this 2022, it’s a really good news for us because we need these small achievements, these small motivations and this fresh air inside the box is what we need.
“It was the time to do it, especially when in FP2 I was riding in easy mode and the lap time was coming, I said ‘ok, if it’s wet in the afternoon I had a big chance’.
“I tried to attack and I did a good lap – I didn’t exaggerate it, but it was enough to be on pole position. Sometimes in the wet when you exaggerate you go slower.”
The six-time MotoGP world champion also admitted his running in the wet on Saturday in Japan was the first time since he broke his arm that he could ride in the way he wanted.
“In wet conditions, today was the first day that I rode the bike like I like,” he said.
“I mean, last year on wet I was competitive but I was riding in a strange way and I didn’t feel comfortable on the bike.
“And I didn’t understand how the lap time was coming. But today I confirmed my arm position was in a perfect way, and I was able to brake like I wanted, go in and pick up the bike and I’m very happy for that.
“Why I can ride in wet conditions better than dry? It’s because the effort on the muscles is less, and then I can keep my arm in the position that I like.
“Then in dry conditions it’s more difficult, I’m still not ready to attack all the laps. And in the wet, the weak points of the bike is less.”
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Japan MotoGP: Marquez takes sensational pole in wet qualifying
Next article Bagnaia slams “not acceptable” MotoGP Japanese GP qualifying result
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Lewis Duncan
MotoGP 2025: Full rider line-up revealed
MotoGP
MotoGP
MotoGP 2025: Full rider line-up revealed
A year on from Marquez’s Germany MotoGP meltdown, has Honda improved?
MotoGP
MotoGP
German GP
A year on from Marquez’s Germany MotoGP meltdown, has Honda improved?
What’s behind MotoGP’s right-hander chaos in Germany practice?
MotoGP
MotoGP
German GP
What’s behind MotoGP’s right-hander chaos in Germany practice?
Latest news
Spire, Chris Gabehart reject Joe Gibbs Racing premise on deleted texts
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
2 h
Spire, Chris Gabehart reject Joe Gibbs Racing premise on deleted texts
Ricky Stenhouse explains his side of Michael McDowell conflict
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
6 h
Ricky Stenhouse explains his side of Michael McDowell conflict
Barnes: Why IndyCar’s updated licensing system fails its own integrity test
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 7 h
Barnes: Why IndyCar’s updated licensing system fails its own integrity test
Why NASCAR is not penalizing Stenhouse, McDowell for post-race theatrics
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
8 h
Why NASCAR is not penalizing Stenhouse, McDowell for post-race theatrics
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe