On paper, Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso served Marc Marquez the MotoGP title on a silver platter today during qualifying at Valencia.

No-one expected that final duel of the season would see the championship leader starting from the pole with sole rival Dovizioso on row three.

“It seems so easy but I cannot relax.  In racing anything can happen,” said Marquez at the track this evening. “My target on Friday was to prepare for the race, on Saturday to get the pole position.  How things are, in the final round, the first laps are more important than the last ones. Remaining in the group is risky and considering the riders I’m sharing the front row, it’s even more important,” alluding at Johan Zarco and Andrea  Iannone, respectively second and third, that are famous for their aggressive passes. “I look on my side and I see danger.”

Even though he didn’t really need pole, the reigning world champion didn’t spare himself. After setting pole position, Marquez crashed for the 27th time this season and he was so angry with himself that for a moment he gave the impression he wanted to kick the bike.

“I knew the front tyre was not ready, but I pushed anyway,” laughed the Spaniard, who is challenging all odds and is not afraid of getting injured. “When you are completely focused and you know what you are doing, the body responds consequently.  I have damaged myself in crashes that were unexpected. But as I said on Thursday, Friday and Saturday I will approach the sessions in my usual style, giving the maximum. In the race I will be more conservative. The choice of the rear tyre will be crucial, but at the moment we have the pace to fight the win.”

Marquez doesn’t hide his will to celebrate his sixth world title from the first spot of the podium in front of his home crowd.

Will he sleep soundly? “We are human, so it will take me some time to fall asleep. I see myself rolling in the bed for one hour.  Honeestly, I would be more worried if I was starting from the third row with Dovizioso in pole position.”

Over in the Ducati garage, things did not go as expected. On Friday Jorge Lorenzo was second fastest behind Marquez with Dovizioso fifth. But the qualifying session  was complicated. “I have good pace with the medium tyres but I’m still riding too aggressively for this track. Valencia is anarrow track. If you don’t ride smoothly, you lose a lot of energy, you struggle with the bike and in the end you are slow. We have improved a lot compared from last year, but it’s not enough to achieve our target. I lose a lot in the fourth sector. Here at Valencia, riding smooth is even more important than being fast,” said Dovizioso

“The percentage to win the title is as small as it was before heading here. Marc can only lose the battle and the possibility that he makes a mistake is minimal. We cannot manage the race thinking aboutthe championship because we have no power on Marc. In the FP4 we had the fourth best pace, so it was not so critical.”

“Jorge is really fast, he can help me to understand how I can improve.” And Ducati will play a team strategy. “I will look more often the dash-board and the pit-board,” stressed Lorenzo, referring to the famous map 8  that appeared in the Sepang race. Then he corrects himself: “We haven’t spoken yet with the team, but I’m a corporate man, I know what to do. Dovizioso has to win the race. We need to improve a bit, Marc is one tenth faster than us in terms of race pace, but on his disadvantage he has more pressure. Compared to other races, he cannot take risks, this is a point that we can use in our favour.” Lorenzo is famous for his strong start and his first laps in front: “We are ready, but we have three aggressive riders in front.”   

The Ducati team can count also on the support of test rider Michele Pirro, who is a wildcard at Valencia and also starts from the second row. “I’m strong but I race every three months.  It’s pity because I feel I can be fast, but then you fight against riders that compete every Sunday. Anyway we will do the best. It has been an exceptional year.”  

Dovizioso’s eyes have a veil, overshadowed by the idea that the six wins, an incredible record for Ducati in the post-Stoner era, could be not enough to guarantee the world title.  “However it will finish”, Dovizioso says the last words, “I don’t regret anything. On the contrary, I don’t feel that this is my last chance of clinching the title. In my mind something has made a click and I won’t lose it on Sunday. Next year you will see me again chasing the title…”