This weekend’s Australian GP is more than the 37 points that Márquez and Martín want in their locker. They are the opportunity for both to begin to get back on track in a championship that after 17 weekends is still completely open to both, with Bezzecchi’s permission.
And both Márquez and Martín have five Grand Prix ahead of them that will end up deciding the champion. It is true that the 17 GPs held to date obviously have their weight, but the fact that Martín leads by only 2 points compared to Márquez means that each of them has extraordinary importance and that neither of them can make any mistakes: there is no safety net.
They know it, they are both MotoGP champions, they have both played for titles until the end and they are both beginning to send “messages” through the press to start warming up the atmosphere and, incidentally, the rival’s head. The two have spoken at Phillip Island and both have referred to their rival although with a different approach between them and that is that while Marc talks about surpassing Martín in the five remaining appointments, for Jorge the option of minimizing damage is also on the table.
Márquez wants to attack, Martín also knows when to defend himself
Marc Márquez arrives in Australia with the intention of going on the attack, although he is also aware that Phillip Island could be a favorable circuit for Aprilia. The Ducati rider remembers what happened in Indonesia, where he expected to have more difficulties than he finally found and managed to leave without losing points against Martín: “We will try to get more points than Jorge in the five remaining races. Then we will see if we achieve it or not. That is our intention from Thursday. We should not only think about Jorge: Bezzecchi is also a contender for the title. The objective is to achieve the maximum in each weekend”Márquez explained, making his intentions quite clear.
But Marc also had words for one of the issues that are beginning to hover over the end of the championship: the possible team orders at Aprilia. With Martín and Bezzecchi still in the fight for the World Championship, the possibility that the Italian brand will have to intervene to favor one of its drivers is on the table. And Márquez has his own opinion on the matter, taking the opportunity to shoot: “As for team orders, if you have speed you don’t need it. You need it if you don’t have it. We’ll see. At the moment I’m focused on myself and I’ll try to give 100%. We’ll see if we can stand up to the entire Aprilia contingent.”
For his part, Jorge Martín does not seem too interested in entering directly into this exchange of statements. When the media present at Phillip Island asked about Márquez’s words, who had considered it almost a victory not to lose points against him in Indonesia, the Aprilia rider preferred to play it down: “I didn’t interpret them, because I didn’t listen to them. Everyone has their own opinion. He thought he was going to lose points in Indonesia and yet it didn’t happen. But you can never know how a weekend will go: you can arrive at a circuit convinced that you are going to win everything and increase your lead in the standings, and then things turn out differently.”
Obviously this does not mean that Martín is going to give up fighting for victories. What happens is that, with an advantage of only two points and five Grands Prix ahead, he also knows that there are times when risking more than necessary can be very expensive. In fact, he acknowledged that in Indonesia he had to be more conservative in his confrontation with Bezzecchi to avoid a possible fall: “If I can have a great race and win points, perfect. If, on the other hand, I have to concentrate on losing as few as possible, that’s also fine. This is my approach: I can’t think that if I want to win, then I will win. I have to do everything the right way and that will allow me to fight for the victory.”
Of course, as we said, anything can happen at Phillip Island and although Marc recognizes that it is one of his favorite circuits, it is evident that the Aprilias there are competitive, as is Martín, although, yes, he did not compete there last year due to being injured. As if everything were not enough, the weather forecast provides water, perhaps enough to lower the temperature in this duel, we will see.
