Marc Marquez revealed that he tried to use lessons learned from battling Andrea Dovizioso to get the better of Francesco Bagnaia in his thrilling duel throughout the Aragon Grand Prix.
The Honda pilot tussled with Bagnaia across the final few laps of the 21-tour encounter, the six-time premier class champion attempting to pass the Ducati man seven times-though each challenge proved unsuccessful as Bagnaia ultimately streaked to a first ever MotoGP race win.
Marquez-who has scored a total of five wins at the Motorland Aragon venue in the premier class-enjoyed thrilling battles with ex-Ducati rider Dovizioso at the track in the 2018 and ’19 editions of the contest, the Spaniard ending up as the victor on both occasions.
Marquez said after the race that he “tried everything” to make a move stick on Bagnaia, revealing he tried to use the experience he had garnered fighting with Dovizioso to score his sixth Aragon success.
“I tried everything, I did my best and I know that sometimes when you try like this you make a mistake and you crash,” said Marquez.
“I tried what I did with (Andrea) Dovizioso in 2018 and ’19 but I knew he’d be there and defend really well because the Ducati riders can brake really late and accelerate really good.
“Pecco (Bagnaia) was also riding today in a perfect way, he did and incredible job and I tried everything, but it was nice.
“I tried (to pass) at Turn 5, Turn 15, Turn 1 then again at Turn 5 and then my last chance was at Turn 12 because I’d already tried at Turn 15 twice but Pecco defended well and the Ducati engine is better than ours so he can accelerate so well.
“I didn’t feel very good at Turn 12 but I had to try, and when I went in I was on the dirty line but I couldn’t stop so I decided then to give up and just finish the race, but overall I’m happy with the second place and with the feeling and mentality of myself.”
Marquez added his run to second-only his second rostrum result of 2021 after his emphatic German GP win back in June-was “very important mentally” having lost several potentially strong finishes due to crashes, most recently at Silverstone where he went down on the opening circulation in a clash with Jorge Martin.
He also played down his chances at Misano this weekend, Marquez “expecting we’ll come back to our real situation” in Italy after struggling in several areas of the Aragon layout that remind him of the bulk of the upcoming venue.
“It was tough because I came here off of two crashes in a row, I crashed three times at Silverstone and twice here because I’m struggling this year,” explained Marquez.
“I still tried though because this is my character, there’s been a lot of up and downs but I’m just trying to be the same Marc Marquez as before (Jerez accident.)
“The team and Honda are pushing a lot so the motivation is very high, they always want more and for me this podium is very important mentally because when you work very hard and the feeling is not there or there is pain in the shoulder and then the results don’t arrive, I’m only human so it gets difficult.
“I’m expecting we’ll come back to our real situation at Misano, but today I struggled in some areas of the circuit, I know which ones and Misano has some of these places so it’ll be tough to manage the front and not crash even if I make no mistakes.”
