MotoGP riders all have a ‘point to go on’ against Marc Marquez, says Matt Oxley. Oxley spoke after Marquez’s fierce battle with Enea Bastianini at the United States GP.
The Ducati rider successfully fought off Tech3’s Bastianini for fifth when he returned to the field after a long lap penalty at the start of the race. They were separated by just a tenth of a second at the checkered flag.
In a later interview Márquez said that rivals will increase their ‘strength’ When they go up against him.
Will the MotoGP riders fight more against Marc Marquez?
The champion was talking about his battle with Innea Bastianini in Austin.
Marc Marquez faces ‘needle’ from MotoGP competitors.
Of course, Bastianini, who lost his seat at the Ducati factory team at the end of 2024, was to make way for Marquez. But the added edge in this particular battle may have come from an incident on merit.
World champion Bastiani got away without a penalty after being found guilty of obstruction during qualifying.
Marquez, however, was penalized for taking VR46’s Fabio Di Giannantonio out of the sprint. Di Giannantonio rejected the apology, warning his Desmosedici rider to ‘be careful tomorrow’.
Marquez arguably has a target on his back as one of the sport’s most successful riders, and his energetic wheel-to-wheel style creates an extra ‘needle’.
“The battle between Bastiani and Marquez towards the end was the best moment of the race,” Oxley reflected. Podcast with Peter Bom. “Marquez spun on Bastiani. It was borderline.
“Every driver on the grid has all sorts of reasons to want to avenge Marc.
“Every rider has a needle. They all want to get revenge on Marc for different reasons, either to beat him or to embarrass him – or both. Everyone has a point to agree with Marc Marquez.”
“Mark, in particular, is high on everyone’s list for all sorts of reasons.”
Ine Bastianini on Marc Marquez battle: ‘I was fired’
As if to illustrate Oxley’s point, Bastianini said he felt motivated when Marquez passed him on the US circuit.
There is through Moto IT: “When Mark got to me I was fired up, but that was because I knew I could pass the rider in front of me after a few laps.
“I didn’t worry about tire wear and I tried to stay behind him. I was there but obviously we still have a few things left.”
Marquez’s arrival in MotoGP was earlier than any other rider on the grid and, despite his injury problems at the start of the decade, he leads the current field of races at 210.
Inevitably, a driver will run into many challenges during this long career, and not all of them will be able to be solved immediately.
Receive competition news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
