Marc Marquez: “Second enough” before Diggia mistake, “prays” sinkhole stays away

Marc Marquez felt second place was “enough” in Saturday’s delayed Brazilian MotoGP sprint, then snatched victory after a late mistake by leader Fabio di Giannantonio.

While di Giannantonio led from pole, reigning champion Marquez settled into an early third at a track he feels doesn’t play to his natural strengths.

After re-passing the fast-starting Yamaha of Fabio Quartararo, Marquez gradually hunted down the fellow Ducati GP26 of di Giannantonio throughout the middle stages.

Marquez looked to be running out of time, but the pressure finally paid off when di Giannantonio made a small mistake with just over two laps to go. However, he still feels the Italian will be the rider to beat on Sunday.

“In Thailand I was close and today we did it, our first victory [of the year], in a sprint race,” Marquez, who was forced to hand the advantage to Pedro Acosta after a last lap penalty at Buriram told TNT Sports.

“Now tomorrow we have the main race, which is the most important, but I'm happy because it’s a circuit where I was not 100% convinced I would be fast, for sector one and sector four.

“So let's see if tomorrow we can improve a bit in the warm-up. I think the rider to beat will again be Fabio di Giannantonio because he's riding in a very good way.”

Marquez added: “Today, honestly speaking, second place was enough, but when I saw his mistake, then I tried to attack. 

"I knew that it would be difficult to overtake him, but he nearly lost the front and then went wide.”

The Sprint race took place an hour and twenty minutes later than planned after a sinkhole was discovered on the main straight, forcing emergency repairs.

Marquez warned that if the damage extends onto the racing line, it would be “impossible” to race.

“Yeah, we pray to keep like it is, the [track] conditions. I mean that big hole is out of the line, so for that reason we were able to race,” he said.

“It's true that they did an amazing job but we pray that that big hole doesn’t go on the racing line because if not it will be impossible.”

Former Honda team-mate Joan Mir echoed Marquez's words: "I think we've been lucky, because if this happens on the racing line, we don't have a chance to compete today or even tomorrow. 

"So hopefully more holes don't appear tonight, and we are able to make a race tomorrow."

Marquez will start Sunday’s grand prix 12-points behind title leader Pedro Acosta, who could only finish ninth for KTM in the Sprint.