In free practice for the French Grand Prix, Marc Marquez was unable to go beyond the 14th time trial and will have to take a step forward in the time attack if he wants to enter directly into the Q2 of the French round at Le Mans.
During the day, the eight-time world champion was the protagonist of spectacular rescues, more or less like the one we saw in the Jerez race and which was interpreted as a sign of recovery by the rider. However, the Honda rider pointed out that it had happened on the left side, which is the good one, and that until he does it on the right, he will not be able to say that he is fine.
This Friday he did it on the right side, that of the injured arm, but Marquez dampened the action: “Today’s rescue was such, everything helps. But I did it with the knee, the elbow didn’t touch the ground, it was different. There is practically identical action in 2019, in the same spot. But the real rescue was the one in the afternoon, in which I worked with the body. Not so much that of the morning, in which I stayed on the bike ”.
Sometimes, after the injury, Marquez admitted that to save energy in some practice sessions he was conservative: “Today I pushed, I tried to be there, but our position was between eighth and tenth place, with the used tires were there. But when we put on the new tires we didn’t improve and the time I did with a medium tire that had 12 or 13 laps, let’s see if we can take advantage of the new tire in FP3. We won’t be in the top five, but being in the top 10 would be a good result. “
Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
With the rider market in full swing and the top riders at risk of running out of bikes, paradoxically the most relaxed is Marc, who signed a four-season contract three years ago until the end of 2024: “I’ve always felt very good to Honda when I won and they made me feel very good when I was injured, they respected me a lot. If I found myself in the situation of having to renew this year, the first ones I would turn to would be them (Honda, ed). they respected during my injury is something few would do, and I would give Honda priority again. I am happy, I think they are too and we are working together to get results. It is clear that this contract was signed to win four years , not to be injured and struggling for so many races. Let’s hope that if it isn’t this year, which I think is difficult, it will be next year “.
Although the results do not arrive, Marc remains one of the most loved and supported drivers, and he is still the favorite for a title which, however, does not seem to be among his short-term goals: “Before the start of the season we are working to get the title , then when the races begin, little by little the opponents begin to show you where you are and what you can aspire to. Then you have to understand what you can aim for. I tried, I had an eye injury in Indonesia and in the latter three races in Austin, Portimao and Jerez I saw that we are not ready to fight for the world championship ”.
“As much as I want it, we are not here to fight for the title. You have to set realistic goals, you can’t think of winning a race when you struggle to get into the top 10, it would be one frustration after another. We have set realistic goals to have little motivation, like fourth place in Jerez. It was celebrated, yes, because it was a very good realistic goal that we had set for ourselves and we have achieved it. We need to celebrate things to keep pushing, and we hope to be able to celebrate the victories in the future, but at the moment we are not here to talk about anything ”.
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