Indianapolis MotoGP fight with Jorge Lorenzo surprised Marc Marquez
Indianapolis MotoGP winner Marc Marquez says he was not expecting such a tough battle for victory with Jorge Lorenzo ahead of the race
Reigning world champion Marquez fell behind a fast-starting Lorenzo at the start, and he followed the Yamaha rider until taking the lead with three laps to go.
Marquez believed his practice pace, where he was four tenths faster than Lorenzo in FP3, would mean he'd be able to control the race from the front, but instead he had to settle in behind Lorenzo.
"I expected another race," said the winner. "In practice it looked like Jorge was able to do high 1m32s and low 33s, but for the race he improved a lot.
"In the beginning I was able to follow him well, then in the middle of the race I was struggling to follow.
"I knew my only chance was to attack at the end, with three or two laps to go, to try to surprise him."
Marquez said he decided to sit behind Lorenzo after losing the lead at the start because he didn't believe he could pull away from the Yamaha rider if he took the lead.
"During the race you can see where you can attack, and when," he said.
"I saw immediately that Jorge was strong and I was not able to go in front and open a gap.
"So I decided to stay behind him and wait to attack at the end."
Lorenzo said he and Yamaha made improvements to his bike for the race, but he had nothing left to respond to Marquez's attack.
"I tried with all my energy to escape from Marc, who demonstrated all weekend that he was very strong.
"I knew that even at my best I probably couldn't escape from him - and even going much better than practice was not enough to pull away.
"My lack of energy at the end of the race was the key - when he passed me I made some mistakes trying to ride with a guy in front."
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