Much of the Valencia GP saw Marc Marquez sit behind Jorge Lorenzo, the Yamaha man just having the edge on early pace. With the track temperature warmer than it had been, Marquez and Repsol Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa were concerned about tire life as they had already experienced problems during practice. Marquez made a late move on Lorenzo, the pass not sticking and unfortunately dropping Marquez out on contention. The Spaniard leaves the 2015 season with many lessons learned and is ready to challenge for his third MotoGP World Championship in 2016.
“We lost a lot under acceleration and braking and it was too far,” Marquez said. “The only place where we could close on Lorenzo was in turn five or six. With four laps to go I tried to pass, but I was cautious. Then Dani came like a rocket! With two laps to go on the back straight I knew it would be tough, we lost time and Jorge was able to open up a half second gap. I tried to recover it in the last lap, but it wasn’t enough.
“Finally Jorge was the champion who deserves it. He and Valentino both deserved it; one had great speed and the other the consistency. In the end of the year Lorenzo gained speed, but I think Valentino (Rossi) made a great season and would have also been a worthy winner.
“On the podium I felt strange, what can I say, there were some boos. It’s complicated for a rider, of course, but I have a clear conscience and so do my team too. We tried the maximum; we have given 100 percent in every race. We have struggled to get the maximum points possible and wanted to end the year with a victory. It was not to be, but hey, in the end I didn’t want to see a World Champion booed.
“It is clear there was already tension, you can’t deny that. This last week has been full of tension and we came here not quite ready. It was very hard to concentrate and this didn’t help. In this race there was pressure to finish for me because I’ve already had six DNFs this year. Besides, there was the pressure of having to make our own race; I think Dani also felt this.
“It is clear that the words of Valentino to his fans will weigh a lot. Valentino has won with charisma throughout his career and he is the benchmark for any rider. For me, for a rider with a winning mentality, telling people I did not want to win a race is an insult because whenever I go out I go to win and do the best job possible.”
Click HERE for full Valencia GP results/recap
