Marc Marquez dedicates his emotional San Marino Grand Prix victory to the Gresini family.
One week after winning the Aragon Grand Prix Marc Marquez was back on the top step of the podium. The Spanish rider had not won in 1,043 days before he won a week ago, but now he has two victories to his name in 2024.
Marquez took advantage of the adverse conditions at Misano as rain briefly fell a few laps into the race. Some riders panicked and went straight into the pits for wet tyres, but the eight-time Champion stayed out. After a lap of 'controlled' riding Marquez attacked Francesco Bagnaia and took the lead of the race.
"This one was totally unexpected especially because we started from ninth place," Marquez stated.
"We thought that it was impossible to fight with the top guys, but we knew the second part of our race was going to be super strong. The most important part for me is to lead the race and open a gap to the World Champion.
"Pecco is very good here, but I was able to ride in a very good way, very fast. We defended well in the second part of the race and then attacked very well towards the end of the race."
Marquez also said how he believes that it was too early to pit after only one lap. Something that turned out to be true as Jorge Martin, who did pit, only managed to finish in 15th place.
"If there was one more lap of rain like that then I would say 'it is time to go in'. But when I saw that only one rider went in I had to stay out and this is what I did and I controlled in a good way. Then on the next lap, I attacked and I gave everything. I saw that some riders crashed because it was super wet on turns one and two. But we managed it well."
With seven rounds left of the 2024 MotoGP World Championship Marquez is 53 points behind Martin in the standings. After the next round in Misano the MotoGP Championship heads to Asia for the flyaway rounds. This stint of the season is where Marquez has been historically strong.
Marquez now believes that he could be able to challenge for the title after his double wins in the last two weeks.
"You never know," Marquez said speaking about a potential challenge. "Especially when you leave Europe and go to Asia where track conditions are difficult. I must continue with my mentality. If we want to fight for the Championship we cannot start from ninth on the grid. We cannot make the mistakes like I did in Qualifying, we must keep improving and pushing which is what I will try to do in two weeks here."
After joining the Gresini Team for 2024, Marquez has now won a race in a Fausto Gresini livery and dedicated his win to the whole Gresini family.
"But today I want to say thanks to Fausto (Gresini) because I think he dropped some water from the sky. That victory is for all of the Gresini family."
