Although he did not win in his Austin this time, Marc Marquez’s return after missing two races for yet another episode of diplopia (double vision) has certainly left a mark. The Honda rider in fact recovered up to the sixth final position after finding himself last at the first corner, due to a problem accused at the start of his RC213V.
On the eve of the weekend of the Portuguese Grand Prix, the eight-time world champion said that in any case the Texan stage was useful to rebuild his confidence, but above all to be calm about the problem suffered at the start, because the team’s technicians Japanese have identified it.
“Austin was a really good weekend. The goal was to rebuild confidence and that’s what happened. We approached the weekend the right way and that’s the most important thing of all. Then it’s obvious. that we would always want more than a sixth place, even if the comeback has been excellent “, said Marquez during the press conference that opened the weekend in Portimao.
“We were hoping for a little more, but we had a technical problem at the start and these are things that can happen with a new bike. The most important thing is that we have identified the problem and that we have solved it for the future,” he added.
Inevitably, he was asked if he could provide some more details about what happened, but as predictably enough Marc made a wall: “I can’t say exactly what happened on the bike. I don’t know if Honda will tell, but I for the moment I won’t say anything. But in ten years that I have been racing with the Honda I have never accused a technical problem before on race day, but I have told the guys that these are things that can happen “.
“I also crashed many times, in Indonesia for example four times, but my mechanics never said anything to me. This means being a team and working together in both good and bad times.”
Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team
Photo by: MotoGP
Portimao is the track that saw him return to MotoGP last year after missing the entire 2020 season due to a fractured right humerus. In the second race, that of November, however, he had to give up again due to the diplopia. Having fewer references than the competition and with a new bike, he doesn’t expect an easy weekend, so he remains very cautious in terms of goals.
“I really like the layout of this track, with all these ups and downs and some blind and a little strange corners. Last year I had a bit of trouble understanding it, you have to try to follow the ‘flow’, the flow. If you find it, I think everything is a little easier. But if you struggle with your bike it becomes more difficult. “
“It will also be a weekend conditioned by unstable weather, but for me it will be important to understand how the new bike behaves on a European circuit: smaller, tighter, on which you have to be more precise. The important thing is to approach the weekend without too many expectations”.
However, this does not mean that if he is competitive, he will not try: “The approach will be prudent here as well as in Austin, but then it is true that if I go out on the track and I feel good, my DNA tells me to push and attack. , which is what I did in the race. Now I feel better physically, so this and the rain could help me. “
“But for now this year my best result has been a fifth place, so I can’t think of winning a race. It’s about taking small steps and then winning. In MotoGP you can’t approach a weekend with a goal. clear, the important thing is to gradually understand where you are and what you have to do “, he concluded.
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