MotoGP, Marquez felt “like the real Marc” in his seven-lap Catalan GP today

Marc Marquez’s race in his home city of Barcelona might have lasted only seven laps, but it wasn’t all negative. It might also be true that the Spaniard did not see the checkered flag for the third time in a row, but at the moment he has very different priorities.

On the one hand there is clear disappointment over a wasted opportunity, on the other hand the awareness that he made a step forward on the physical side and this is what matters most, as he himself admitted after the race.

“We are well aware that there are problems – the #93 began – first of all we have no grip under acceleration and you carry this with you all the way down the straight. Also, when entering corners, I lack grip to stop the bike as I want. So I have two different problems, but we are going in one direction to solve them as soon as possible”.

These are the difficulties, but there are some positive aspects…

“Today I was pushing and I was Marc, I was having fun. Those seven laps were the best of the whole year, because I was riding like I wanted and I also took some risks, but in the end today was the right day to do it. In fact, I pushed at the beginning, made several overtakes, but at the same time I knew that I was losing in many other points of the circuit, especially in acceleration. Then came the crash”.

The reason is simple…

“I lost the front and ended up on the ground. I’m disappointed, but at this moment I don’t care much about the result, since my priorities are different. Also in Jerez I ended up on the ground, but that was a different crash, while here I ended up on the ground in the race and the physical conditions should not be an obstacle for tomorrow ”.

Yeah, because tomorrow is testing time…

“Tomorrow is the day and it matters more to me than today. We have a lot of things to test, in order to understand the material, especially in the future. We talked with the team and I’m ready, maybe I’ll struggle more in the afternoon, but tomorrow’s test is fundamental for all of us and the development work linked to the bike ”.

After that, the focus then shifted to Magic Marc’s physical condition …

“This weekend I felt no limitations. In Mugello there was pain, while here only a bit of bother. Too bad the race ended so early as I didn’t feel tired. Up to Mugello I tried to manage the races, but here I felt good, I pushed, attacked, but then unfortunately I ended up on the ground ”.

Meanwhile, in two weeks, it will be time for Germany with the Sachsenring GP…

“Barring any sensational surprises, I will go to Sachsenring, also because I’m not a coward. Being on the bike is the best way to regain confidence. We will see what happens, considering that the track, with so many left-hand corners, should be less demanding for me from the physical side. This aspect could help me, but at the same time I know very well that I cannot win. In fact, I am very clear about the situation in which we find ourselves and so I am prepared on a psychological level. We are working with the team to understand how to solve the problems and resume the path that stopped at Jerez in 2020. Obviously, not everything is resolved from one race to the next, since all the Hondas are struggling, but inside of us we are making the maximum commitment to come back strong”.

Finally Marc had a word to say about what happened to Quartararo.

“I was talking with the team about what happened, someone said he had to be penalized, others didn’t. What can I say? What happened to Fabio is something more unique than rare and I don’t think it will happen again. For sure it was a dangerous situation and the race direction had to intervene to point it out to him, since it’s like when you lose a piece of the bike. They should have shown a black and white flag, so that he could stop to close his leathers and start again, as happens for example when you have a problem with the bike. The situation was dangerous, but not a black flag”.