Marquez details the key point that saw him lose out on victory at Sepang

Marquez made a great start from fourth and slotted in second place heading into turn two.

The sprint winner was then very close to Enea Bastianini as the laps went by, however, front tyre pressure became an issue after he failed to make an attempted overtake. 

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“Was a really tough race,” said Marquez. “Enea set a really good pace. This year the race was like 15 seconds faster than last year. Was really tough. 

“I just did the mistake which was not to attack him. I was maybe waiting a bit too much and when you have the high temperature with the front tyre it is difficult. 

“I was there all the time but I just did that small mistake. We did an unbelievable weekend, we were fast and took victory in the sprint race. We can aspire to have more but we must be happy.”

Marquez was the pre-race favourite and appeared to have more pace than Bastianini early on.

But as the race went on Bastianini got stronger and stronger which left the Gresini rider with no answer to his red-hot pace.

Aside from two small mistakes, Marquez admitted Bastianini was too good to beat: “Seven and eight; he did two mistakes but he was quite good on the exit. 

“For the rest he was unbelievable. He was always on the pace. Like me yesterday, when you are in front you have the best race. It is much easier to ride the bike.”