Alex Marquez sends ominous Portuguese MotoGP warning: Lap times “are quite easy”

After securing second place in the championship at the Malaysian Grand Prix, you could forgive Alex Marquez for perhaps riding with some margin in the final two races of the season, but instead he started the Portuguese MotoGP in perhaps his most striking form of the season so far.

Fastest in both FP1 on Friday morning and Practice in the afternoon, Marquez was especially dominant in sector four compared to his rivals, almost a tenth faster through the final part of the lap – which contains Portimao’s notorious right-handed, sweeping final turn – only Marco Bezzecchi within a tenth of the Gresini Racing rider in the final split in Practice.

Marquez says he feels like there are areas to improve on for the remainder of the weekend, particularly rear grip.

“Always you have some things to still improve and to still have it there,” Alex Marquez told MotoGP.com on Friday in Portimao.

“But it was a really good feeling from the first lap in the morning with a good flow, and it’s really important on this track to have that flow. 

“I had a really great feeling, but the opponents are not far. We need to keep going and keep improving.”

Regarding what he would like to improve, he added: “Trying to be a bit more constant on rear grip, trying to absorb the bumps – that we have quite many here – in a better way.

“These are the things that I want to improve for tomorrow.”

But Marquez admitted that lap times are “coming quite easy” for him in the penultimate round of what has been his best season in MotoGP so far.

“The special thing is when you’re pushing but the lap times are coming,” he said.

“So, they are coming quite easy, in a really good way, and this is the most important thing.

“So, I think still we have a few things to improve on the setup and we will try tomorrow to make one more step.”

Marquez does not see himself without rivals in Portugal, though. 

In qualifying, he considers “everybody” a threat, he says, “because we saw in one lap many surprises this year [like] Quartararo or Bezzecchi, or someone that can make a really good lap.

“But, on race pace, especially Acosta and Bezzecchi are really good. 

“I didn’t have time to check Pecco’s [Francesco Bagnaia] pace, but they will be there and we need to be awake tomorrow to not make mistakes.”