Alex Marquez (Ducati) is gutted: “Mistakes I simply can’t afford to make”

Saturday at Motegi was a “day to forget” for Alex Marquez. Although he qualified in fifth place as the second-fastest rider on a Ducati GP26, a failed overtaking manoeuvre on Pedro Acosta on the first lap of the sprint race brought the Gresini rider’s Saturday race to a premature end. Sunday’s Grand Prix went little better either, as even completing the full distance failed to turn things round; the rider, who was eighth in the World Championship standings going into the race, was denied a place at the chequered flag.

Yet the race had started positively for the 30-year-old: the Catalan finished the first lap in fourth place, having managed to get past Pedro Acosta at the start. The rider from Cervera held that position until the fifth lap, when he served the two long-lap penalties he had incurred for Saturday’s collision. Serving the first penalty dropped the former Moto2 world champion to fifth place, whilst the second sent him back to eighth.

The younger Marquez brother remained there until his third crash of the weekend brought his race to a definitive end. A frustrating crash: “On Sunday, I made a total of two mistakes in the warm-up and the race. The finishing position doesn’t matter, because something like that is always disappointing!” The KTM rider-to-be next year described how the crash happened: “I didn’t place my foot where it should have been on the bike. That’s why, whilst leaning into a corner, I upshifted twice instead of downshifting once.”

The result was a corresponding reaction from Marquez’s bike: “That’s why I crashed – because the bike pushed forwards whilst leaning over. These are mistakes I can’t afford to make. Certainly not twice in the same day!” On Sunday morning during the warm-up, the 2013 Moto3 World Champion had made the same mistake, which had also led to a crash on that occasion. After scoring zero points in both races over the weekend, Alex Marquez lost eighth place in the World Championship standings to Francesco Bagnaia.

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The discussion in the run-up to Sunday’s race was dominated by Michelin’s tyre choice; following the sprint race, they had recommended the hardest rear tyre scheduled for the race weekend. A tyre that no rider had tried on Friday or Saturday of the MotoGP event, but which the entire field used on Sunday. Alex Márquez shared an anecdote from a team meeting: “We were still joking about it in the team this morning, saying that if the tyre actually worked, it would prove that none of us knows anything about motorbikes!” The tyre choice paid off for the majority of the field: “It was a surprise for everyone.”

Willkommen zum Rennen in Motegi

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Pedro Acosta

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Fans

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Pecco Bagnaia

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Jorge Martin

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Start des Rennens

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Jorge Martin

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Ai Ogura

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Fermin Aldeguer

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Marco Bezzecchi

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Pedro Acosta

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Jorge Martin und Marc Márquez

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Raúl Fernández

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Enea Bastianini

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Ogura und Fernández

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Luca Marini

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Marc Márquez gewinnt das Rennen

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Sieger Marc Márquez

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Jorge Martin, Marc Márquez, Marco Bezzecchi

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Sieger Marc Márquez

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Willkommen zum Rennen in Motegi

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