MotoGP | Marquez: “Contact with Mir? My fault, but we have to understand”

Austin and Jerez, same script: after having wasted the opportunity to triumph for the first time with Ducati in America, Marc Marquez ended up crashing in the Sprint in Jerez, when he had taken the lead and seemed headed towards success. A waste, that of the eight-time world champion, which however today was “justified” by the track conditions, which according to many were impracticable. Despite the fall, he managed to get back on track and, taking advantage of the many crashes of the Sprint, finished in seventh position.

The Gresini rider fell into the trap of the track, which brought out wet patches as the laps went by. Despite the crash, Marquez felt more comfortable than usual: “We were closer than we were before, but still not enough. There were only four laps left to finish a perfect day, but the positive thing is that today is an excellent day for me, with pole position. We understood that we are fast in the wet, we were also the fastest in the race, but unfortunately I wasn't able to finish it. I did the hardest thing, but then I fell into the easy part. But, like most riders, I would say I got a wet patch and lost the front. Like most of them, but the positive thing is that every time we are closer and closer.”

“Honestly, I didn't notice that wet area during the whole race,” he explained, going into detail about the fall. “I saw that there were some wet patches at the entrance, but I didn't see that on the gas. Then, in fact, on that lap I broke off a little earlier and maintained a little more speed in the corners, but maybe I only went out by 10 cm because there was a patch of that size. I don't know if in the previous laps I passed in or out of that point, because I wasn't overdoing it. but unfortunately when I lost the front I wasn't able to recover, but even so we finished the race in seventh place, so good.”

Marquez is the absolute protagonist of every weekend not only for the results, but also for the actions on the track that leave consequences even after the checkered flag. This time it was Joan Mir who had to criticize the behavior of his former teammate, who in the furious comeback after the crash was the author of an overtaking that was decidedly too aggressive, as well as a near contact with Miguel Oliveira. “I only had one contact with Mir,” explained Marc. “The one with Miguel? We almost touched, but not contact. It's different”.

However, the eight-time world champion believes that even without contacts he would not have been able to recover to get on the podium in the Sprint: “No, because when I fell I destroyed the wings, all the aerodynamics. During the race the bike was shaking a lot and going to one side, so it was impossible. I managed to shoot in 39, but not in 38 or 37″.

For the episode with Mir, Race Direction penalized Marquez by taking away a position from him and the Gresini standard-bearer does not agree with the decision: “It was exactly the same situation as Binder. He overtook me, then I saw him and got back on the bike. I tried to overtake Mir smoothly, but then he released the brakes and slipped away and we made contact. It was my fault, but yes, sometimes you have to understand.”

“For example, with Binder I managed to get in and make contact, but I know that I will not only lose Binder, but also other positions. So sometimes it is necessary to analyze.” But in this case Mir tried to push on and I didn't release the brakes enough to overtake him completely. I take the penalty, one position, it was a good penalty for the stewards, but it was easy to lose a position for Oliveira and recover from there too,” he stated.

Sunday's race will be a different story and promises to be dry. Therefore, the choice of tires will be key: “It will be a question mark for everyone. Tomorrow I think the grip of the track will be better. With the averages we have to understand what we can do. Everyone is very consistent, but one of the most important things will be the start and the first lap. Among the riders who start from the front, perhaps Martin is the strongest.”