Marc Marquez (Ducati) kept his cool: he decided it wasn’t worth it

As Jorge Martin broke his right forearm just above the wrist during the sprint in Australia, Marc Marquez was able to turn his two-point deficit in the World Championship into a ten-point lead. A stroke of luck for Martin: the Grand Prix was cancelled due to rain. Bad luck for Martin: he cannot race in Malaysia as the pain in his arm is too severe. And with only a few days left to recover before the next race weekend in Qatar, the Aprilia star will not be fit for that event either.

Marc Marquez doesn’t let golden opportunities like this slip by. In the sprint at Sepang, the 33-year-old let KTM ace Pedro Acosta take the win and settled for the nine points for second place; ‘MM93’ extended his lead over Martin in the overall standings to 19 points.

Marc Marquez did not want to lead the race

“In a race like this, mistakes can happen very easily,” said Marquez, describing the difficult conditions on Saturday afternoon at the Sepang Circuit. Black clouds were already hanging in the sky at the start of the race, and it then began to rain lightly. “That’s why those who aren’t fighting for the championship can take more risks. I stayed calm and had the pace I needed, but I didn’t want to lead the race. Because the rider at the front is usually the one who crashes. Taking an extra risk would only have earned me three more points.”

A race like that’s no fun; it was hard work.

Marc Márquez

“When the team showed me the weather forecast, I realised that a race like this was possible,” the world champion continued. “I thought back to when we’d had races like this. I crashed at Aragon in 2014, and at Jerez this year too. Back then I pushed too hard – when the track is drying out, it’s easier. I had a strategy: to stay behind the leader and ahead of Bezzecchi. The track wasn’t bad, but in Malaysia you never know what’s going to happen. A storm can suddenly roll in. For example, the third sector was dry, whilst it was raining harder in sector 2. It was difficult to work out what was happening where – at one point I nearly crashed at Turn 14. A race like that is no fun; it was hard work. We had to do what we could – and not a bit more.”

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Ai Ogura wasn’t allowed to finish ahead of Bezzecchi

Márquez didn’t get off to the best start, which meant we were treated to several exciting battles with Ai Ogura from the Trackhouse Aprilia team. And some tactical manoeuvring. “When I saw that I was third and Bezzecchi fourth, it was clear to me that Ogura would lose his place on the podium if I overtook him,” explained Marc. “He wasn’t allowed to finish between me and Bezzecchi.”

Because everyone at Aprilia is well aware: if they are to stand a chance in the title race against Ducati and Marc Márquez, their own riders must not take points away from one another. Ogura, currently fifth in the World Championship, has to take a back seat in such a situation.

Marquez assured everyone that Martin’s absence had no impact on his approach: “If I need to be aggressive, I am. And when I had to stay calm, I did. This strategy is working for me and has taken me to the top of the championship. That’s why I’ll try to stick with it. But as we know, anything can happen.”