Alex Marquez (Ducati) must pay the price for his mistake: is shoulder surgery on the cards?

Alex Márquez was the tragic hero of the MotoGP Sprint at the Sepang International Circuit on Saturday afternoon. The Gresini Ducati rider shot into the lead from pole position and appeared to be in control of the race. Just a few minutes after the rain flags were waved and the ‘flag-to-flag race’ announcement was made, the younger of the Marquez brothers lost the front end in Turn 10 and crashed at high speed.

Despite the rain flags and increasingly heavy downpour, the majority of the field stayed on slick tyres and were right to do so – the downpour only began immediately after the chequered flag. Attentive observers wondered whether ‘AM73’s’ crash was down to the light rain, or whether it was a riding error?

Zweieinhalb Runden führte Alex Marquez (76) den Sprint an

Foto: Gold and Goose Photography

“I made a small mistake; the grip level wasn’t very high either,” explains the 30-year-old Spaniard. “It was all pretty much at the limit. But I would never have expected to crash in that corner – perhaps I was too elated and optimistic after taking pole. It was a high-speed crash, but I’m physically fine. There were a few drops of rain, but the rain wasn’t the reason for the crash.”

Alex Márquez: Data from the sprint is of little use

Looking ahead to Sunday’s Grand Prix (starting at 8.00 am CET), Marquez said: “We did a lot of laps in practice. The conditions in the sprint were quite different from the previous sessions – there were patches of shade and a few damp spots. So it wasn’t a proper test and didn’t provide much information for the other riders either. The corner where I crashed is even more on the limit than others because of the state of the tarmac. We need to control that a bit better.”

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Commenting on a possible shoulder operation and a potential withdrawal from Doha next weekend, Alex said: “We’re assessing all the factors and will see what happens. My shoulder is already suffering from the after-effects of the Montmeló crash. I’ve also had an injection to reduce the pain a bit.”