)
Alex Marquez is convinced his brother Marc Marquez was never truly at risk of losing the lead in the San Marino Grand Prix, stating that the factory Ducati MotoGP rider was simply "playing" with his rivals.
In the closing stages of Sunday's race at the Misano circuit, the top three riders were separated by barely a second, with Alex Marquez and Pedro Acosta significantly closing the gap to the leader.
Even after Acosta on the KTM fell back, the younger Marquez brother maintained pressure for several laps before the reigning champion pulled away on the final lap to secure his fifth victory of the season.
However, the Gresini rider believes the battle for victory was never as close as it appeared, asserting that Marc Marquez always had a comfortable margin over him.
"When I overtook Jorge Martin, Marc was almost a second ahead of us, so I told myself: 'Okay, try to calm down a bit and attack later,'" he recalled in an interview with motogp.com.
"But he controlled that gap very well. When I pushed, he pushed too; when I was a bit slower, he was also slower. So he was playing with us a little. He rode in a really good way."
One of Marc Marquez's main title rivals crashed out on the very first lap when Marco Bezzecchi fell from the lead at Turn 13.
This left Marquez to battle for the top spot with the other factory Aprilia rider, Martin, but he too dropped out of contention shortly before the halfway point of the race after suffering arm pump.
Alex Marquez believes that Marc began to prioritize the championship battle over race victory after Bezzecchi's crash on the opening lap.
"On Sunday, Marc wasn't riding at his absolute best. He knows how to ride better and faster," the Gresini rider said about Marc Marquez.
"I think with Bezzecchi's crash and the championship fight, at one point he relaxed too much. After that, he wasn't riding in a way that took all the risks. I think he was riding at 99%. He gave 100% only for a few laps to create that gap and maintain it, but then he was just playing with us."
Alex Marquez believes his own chances of victory were hampered by a poor qualifying session, where he crashed twice and started ninth on the grid.
"We lost our chances for victory in qualifying. I said that the biggest dream was a podium. But when you dream of something, you know it will be very difficult, so the realistic goal was to be fourth, fifth, or sixth."
"But in warm-up, I felt really good. And when I had a very good first lap [in the race], I told myself: 'I need to get to the front.'"
"I managed to ride very well and I'm very happy for the team. They helped me a lot after a difficult qualifying on Saturday."
&format=webp)
&format=webp)
,fit(112:112)&format=webp)
&format=webp)
,fit(112:112)&format=webp)