As Motorsport.com Italia reports, Marc Marquez had to dip into the energy reservoir he usually tries to save on Fridays, finding himself unable to ride with comfort early in the GP d'Austria. Coming into the weekend, the Ducati rider had acknowledged his status as a championship favorite while sticking to his new weekend strategy of conserving energy when Friday practice begins. That plan went out the window when a new challenger emerged to dominate the day from start to finish.
Pedro Acosta laid down the law by topping the timesheets clearly throughout the session. "For the moment, Acosta has been the fastest here and is the favorite," Marquez admitted flatly.
The positive thing is that we improved a lot from the first outing to the last, but for now we are not in a condition to fight for the victory,
Throughout the day, the Ducati rider stayed close to the murciano in the standings even if the lap times told a different story, at one point falling nearly half a second back before a late push hauled him up to fourth place, two tenths adrift. "Today we had to spend, we had to push because right from the start I saw that I wasn't riding with all the comfort of other circuits," Marquez said.
To keep his streak of five wins in the last seven races—including four doubles—running, Marquez knows he will have to skate closer to the edge. "Risks are always taken," he noted. Looking at the wider championship picture, the rider from Cervera did some quick math regarding his young rival: "Acosta is not our war, but I do not rule him out of the title fight. We have recovered 102 points in seven races, and he is a little over 60 behind with eight races left."
Explaining his initial lack of ease on the machine, Marquez pointed to a specific technical hurdle. "The positive thing is that we improved a lot from the first outing to the last, but for now we are not in a condition to fight for the victory," he stated, trying to temper expectations. He added that the unique nature of the venue plays a role, noting that the tire casing changes every year at the track, directly altering how the motorcycle behaves.
The pair, who will share the Ducati garage next year, currently maintain a solid relationship, which was visible in the parc ferme after the race in Misano. "Pedro has gone very strong on many circuits, and here he is the fastest," Marquez concluded, leaving open the question of whether he can pull an ace from his sleeve for the remainder of the weekend.
