Marc Marquez denies protecting Jorge Lorenzo
ByAutoSport
Updated 08/11/2015 at 17:59 GMT
Marc Marquez insists he did his utmost to defeat Jorge Lorenzo in the Valencia Grand Prix and was not trying to prevent Valentino Rossi winning the MotoGP title.
Movistar Yamaha MotoGP's Spanish rider Jorge Lorenzo (R) and Repsol Honda Team's Spanish rider Marc Marquez ride during the MotoGP motorcycling race at the Valencia Grand Prix at Ricardo Tormo racetrack in Cheste, near Valencia on November 8, 2015
Image credit: AFP
Lorenzo's race win earned him the 2015 championship by five points over Rossi, who came from the back of the grid to fourth but needed his Yamaha team-mate to finish third to avoid losing the crown.
Honda riders Marquez and Dani Pedrosa chased Lorenzo to the finish, closing in late on as the Yamaha began to struggle with rear tyre wear.
Amid suggestions he had sat behind Lorenzo to help him win the title rather than attacking the Yamaha, Marquez was adamant only yellow flags and a penultimate lap battle with Pedrosa prevented him from overtaking.
"Me and Dani pushed 100 per cent," Marquez insisted.
"We knew that with hot temperatures, we both had problems with the front tyre. We expected the temperature would be lower but it was five degrees higher than yesterday.
"In the last six laps I saw the victory was possible but when Dani overtook me we lost half a second and it was impossible to catch Jorge again.
"For the first 20 laps it was really tricky to follow him but I was only one second behind him.
"When I caught him I started to think about past races and remembered Indianapolis [where he overtook Lorenzo for victory late on].
"In Indianapolis I pushed in the last two or three laps so I tried to do the same and was really close, but there was a yellow flag in the place I was closest."
Marquez argued that if he had not wanted to beat Lorenzo he would have stayed much further back.
"Today if I was trying to be the bodyguard to Lorenzo, I would be five or six seconds behind him and I would not take risks to follow him," he said.
"I took a lot of risks to follow him.
"My target was, like always, to try to give 100 per cent and fight for the victory."
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