Honda won’t be in its typical line-up yet at Assen, but at least now it has the certainty that its front man will be in the game. After missing last Sunday’s long race at the Sachsenring, Marc Marquez confirmed that he will be regularly astride his RC213V for the Dutch Grand Prix.
After a bad accident in FP2, which also involved Johann Zarco, the eight-time world champion crashed three times during qualifying for the German Grand Prix. Situation that had led him to run in defense in the Sprint, finishing 11th and subsequently declaring that it is no longer worth risking so much for disappointing positions.
However, this intention was disregarded on Sunday morning, when he suffered the fifth crash of his weekend during the Warm-Up, falling victim to a violent highside at turn 7, in which he suffered a small fracture to the thumb of his left hand.
However, it wasn’t this that convinced him not to show up on the grid at 2 pm, given that he had also been declared “fit” by the doctors, but rather the feeling of helplessness he experienced when faced with the impossibility of driving without risking falling all the time: “I don’t feel ready for the race”, he cut short as he left the HRC garage, where he also spoke about his choice with Tetsuhiro Kuwata.
Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Now that 48 hours have passed, however, the #93 explained that he feels ready to get back on the bike, even if the intent for Assen is only to try to gather as much information as possible for the technicians, so that they can work to improve the RC213V in the long summer break that will shut down the engines until the beginning of August.
“I arrive in Assen with the intention of leaving the difficult weekend in Germany behind me. We still have one race before the summer break and the goal is to collect a lot of useful data for the engineers, so they can work in the coming weeks. This is the goal for the weekend, we have to stay calm and face the weekend with a clear plan” said Marquez.
As mentioned, the official team of the Japanese manufacturer will not be in Holland with its typical line-up, because Joan Mir will still be absent due to the right hand injury sustained at Mugello which has already cost him the races in Tuscany as well as those in Germany . In his place will be Iker Lecuona, Honda’s official SBK rider, who had already replaced Marquez at the Spanish Grand Prix.
Also in the satellite team, Lucio Cecchinello’s LCR, Alex Rins will be missing. The Spaniard’s injury is more serious than that of his compatriot, because he also fractured his tibia and fibula at Mugello. Test rider Stefan Bradl will ride his RC213V instead.
Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
#MotoGP #Marquez #returns #Assen #Lets #put #Germany