Espargaro, the winner of the last time he went to the Termas de Rio Hondo, was immobilized in Q1 in the COTA qualifiers this weekend after crashing into a fast lap that could lead him to pole shoot-out. But before that accident, it was clear that Espargaro was unsteady watching a particular opponent use him as a point of reference, and this provoked an angry reaction from the Spaniard both immediately after and in the media after the session. “I have to say it was my fault, I have to be more relaxed, we know this can happen, it’s my fault because I lost my concentration and this can not happen. “But it’s crazy, it’s crazy.” “Alex Marquez has no respect, he was stopped waiting for me in FP4, the same with the first tire and again with the second tire. It ‘s crazy. It’s unbelievable that this is happening. “But again, it’s my fault, I have to be more focused, not lose focus, do my job, and so it is. I’m very disappointed today because I worked hard this weekend to try to be competitive, I think we’re on the podium, the pace is very strong, I’m very happy about it – but I could not have a good weekend with soft tire, and when I came very very fast to the first split [sector] with the last tire I crashed “. For his part, Marquez – who had his own accident in Q1 and described Saturday as possibly the worst day of his MotoGP career so far – dismissed Espargaro’s complaints when The Race said so. “He knows how runners work, and that’s it,” Marquez said. “He also followed a lot of riders in the past, and that ‘s why we’re trying to follow him – but he just followed a lot of riders in the past. So he just has to remember that and that’s it. “This is a fight, this is a game.” Marquez was not the only rider apparently looking for a report to follow at various points on Saturday. In FP3, video cameras captured the remarkable sight of nearly half a dozen riders jockeying on the racetrack in the final minutes of the race, and during the pole shoot-out, Marquez’s older brother, Marc clearly intended to follow Enea Bastianini. (Gresini Ducati) throughout the session – something that seemed to jeopardize its outcome. The older Marquez was never ashamed to use benchmarks when he felt he needed them, and his factory mate Pol Espargaro – Aleix’s brother – has recognized it as a necessary evil for Honda riders who at the moment do not seem to have the ideal. bike for the pace of a lap. Asked by The Race about the well-known spectacle of many riders trying to find someone to tow all of Saturday’s sessions, Espargaro said: “It’s embarrassing. But in the end what direction of the fight he told us in the last Security Committee [meeting] where i said it was ridiculous, was that if they [riders] are not in the middle of the line, they can wait [for others]. Obviously not nice to see this on TV, and as for the beginners I can really understand a little bit, but come on, from other riders, on factory bikes, with a lot of experience, we should be an example [for younger riders]. “This is what I am trying to do from the winter test, one of my goals in my mind was to go alone, to push alone, to do a good job this season and I am never expecting anyone this year and I will always try to go alone this year. But there are many experienced riders with factory bikes [doing this]It’s a shame. “
