Marc Marquez says he and Andrea Dovizioso "swapped" riding styles and approach in their last-lap battle for the victory in Thailand, which was won by the Honda MotoGP rider.
Marquez and Dovizioso were split by just 0.115 seconds at the chequered flag after their hard battle for the lead in the closing laps came down to the final corner for the fourth time in 18 months.
Championship leader Marquez came out on top for the first time, having been beaten by the Ducati rider in Austria and Japan 2017, and in Qatar this year after failing to make a last-corner lunge stick.
The roles reversed in Thailand, with Dovizioso unable to make a successful move at Turn 12, with Marquez commenting that both “swapped” styles in their battle and likened it to their Red Bull Ring battle last season.
“Already last year and this year we have very great battles, and it's nice because always the battles arrive at the last corner,” said Marquez.
“Even always I try to give everything to the last metres, but always Dovi is everything until last metres.
“So this is the way, always have good respect but we have different riding styles, a different bike, and he have a very strong points, I have other strong points.
“So this creates how we are able to 'play' in a good way and the way to overtake each other. So it's difficult to say, but in this race we swapped the styles – I was Dovi and he was Marc.
“He go in really fast and go slightly wide, but was very close to achieving his goal of a block pass and I was very, very close but I was able to stop some metres [shorter]. It was similar to Austria last year.”
Dovizioso explained how the pair's contrasting riding styles on their respective machinery makes the “big difference” in their battles, and it is this which makes them so “good”.
“I think this happens also because our styles are completely different. But the style is one thing and the characteristic of the bike is another story,” he said.
“Both things created this big difference, because I think his style is going in the same style as Honda: very agile, very aggressive, he is able to do that.
“He's really good, he's the best to manage that, but also he change a lot his style during the years in MotoGP, going that way his bike and his style.
“My style is a bit more relaxed, but also our bike you have to ride our bike in that way, you can't ride the Ducati like this [Marc style], and I don't think I can ride the Honda in the same way [I ride the Ducati].
“So I think both created this big differences, and the battle becomes good because his approach of the brake or the line is completely opposite to mine.
“We are trying to study and work to be better where he is better, and the opposite, but still there is a big difference in style and the characteristic of the bike.”
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