Marc Marquez was the only MotoGP rider to select the soft Michelin rear tyre for the Australian Grand Prix – and it nearly propelled him to his first victory in a year.
With tyre drop-off expected to be a major factor in the closing stages at Phillip Island, every rider but Marquez spurned the soft rear despite pre-race predictions that all three available rear tyre compounds were valid options.
Marquez was ultimately the only top-10 finisher not on a hard rear – yet was just 0.186s away from giving Honda its first win since his Misano triumph 12 months ago.
This, he reckoned, would not have been possible had he been scared off by the fact nobody else selected the soft compound.
“This podium means a lot,” said Marquez, his second place at Phillip Island marking his 100th MotoGP podium but only his first in 2022.
“Because, to keep the motivation, to show to them that still the rider that wins six titles with Honda is there – always they believe in me a lot, and – today, to choose that soft rear tyre was my decision. They were against it.
“But I said ‘guys, I will take the gamble, I take the responsibility’. ‘But you’re the only one on the grid’ – doesn’t matter.
“It’s the only way to be there with this Honda. Because with the other tyre I know which would be the problem.”
Marquez’s achievement in nearly winning on the soft left other riders suitably in awe.
“He raced with the soft, no? This was incredible, because for me to race with the soft was impossible,” said Marco Bezzecchi after finishing just off the podium in fourth. “So, he’s very good at managing the tyre.”
Marquez was aided by the fact that the race ran at a slower pace than expected, allowing him to bide his time and keep his tyre in good shape within the pack.
He didn’t elaborate on the exact problem using the soft rear helped him mitigate, but added: “It’s strange, because normally with the Honda we go always in the opposite way. But sometimes you need to take a gamble.
“I know – or I predicted – that if I chose the same option like the others, I wouldn’t have any chance in the race.
“I think [team-mate] Pol [Espargaro, finished 11th] chose the hard rear tyre [actually the medium rear] – he was fast on Friday, he was fast yesterday on a single lap, but in the race he was too far [behind]. But was for the tyre, I believe.
“And at the end, of course we are improving the Honda, but it’s the same base as we used all the year. And it’s difficult – to be like the others, you need to have some extra.
“And today I tried to use my experience to choose that rear tyre because I predicted that the race pace would be slow.
“It was a gamble, but I predicted that and at the end it was the correct decision.”
For his part, Espargaro did not view his tyre choice as the culprit behind his disappointing Sunday – suggesting simply that he’d arrived at his limit with the RC213V early in the weekend and was left behind by others improving.
“The grip level was not good, I was struggling since lap one to the end, as the last races,” he said.
COULD HAVE WON IT FOR BAGNAIA
After both he and eventual winner Alex Rins passed then-leader Francesco Bagnaia through Turn 2 – Southern Loop – on the final lap, Marquez hounded Rins through the remainder of the distance but was never able to launch a proper attack.
“I knew that on Turn 2 it was not possible to overtake Alex, but when I saw that Pecco was there, I said ‘he doesn’t expect it, so I go’,” said Marquez.
“And then, one of the problems of our bike is the stopping in the straight line – and in Turn 4, if you are not super clear, the problem is that when we have some shaking, like for example the mistake of my brother [Alex Marquez, taking out Jack Miller] today, when you have some shaking with this Honda, then you cannot stop, you cannot absorb the problem, and it was too risky.
“Then I said ‘OK, I will try from Turn 11 to Turn 12′, but he did well, it was good acceleration.”
Marquez felt his and Rins’ pace was “very equal” at that point and credited Rins for riding “a perfect last lap” defensively.
“Of course in Turn 10 you can go in – but if I went in, the way that he defended, Pecco wins the race. I’m sure.”
