Marc Marquez is currently experiencing a rollercoaster ride in MotoGP. After the turbulent last few weeks, in which his Ducati commitment made many headlines, he is still not really back on his feet at the eighth race of the season in Assen. He revealed some problems in training on Friday, but at least he secured a direct place in Q2. On Saturday, a lot went wrong in both qualifying and the sprint. The eight-time world champion clearly takes the blame for this.
Crash in qualifying after risky maneuver
The disaster began in the morning during qualifying. Marquez tried to position himself cleverly in traffic to catch a fast rear wheel. But this plan failed when Aleix Espargaro braked past him in the last corner before the fast lap. Accordingly, the gap to the Aprilia driver was small. Marquez ran into his compatriot in the first sector and fell when he tried to overtake him in the fast corner seven. Espargaro was clearly upset about the Gresini star’s approach afterwards.
“The problem was that I didn’t want to overtake,” Marquez explained his crash to the assembled journalists. “It’s a super fast spot. But when I saw that Aleix [Espargaro] braked very early to prepare for the next corner, I had to go inside – that was the only option.” The decisive factor for the fall over the front wheel was the change in line choice.
“I wasn’t even faster than the previous lap at this point, so I had the right speed,” Marquez clarified. “But when I was leaning fully, I hit this bump, which was already Raul Fernandez and some Moto2 riders fell. That’s why I unfortunately lost the front.” Fortunately, the crash had no major consequences. Marquez did not sustain any injuries and Espargaro was able to quickly avoid the falling MotoGP star.
Marc Marquez: Sprint crash is clearly my fault
Just a few hours later, Marquez was on his backside again. This time, however, in turn two, an extremely unusual place for a crash. MotoGP expert Simon Crafar suggested that Marquez had gotten caught on the kerb with his knee slider or footrest. But that was not the case, as the 31-year-old made clear. Rather, it was again a wrong choice of line that was the decisive factor for the offshoot.
“It was simply a human problem, a driving error,” revealed Marquez. “I also touched the kerb on the first lap of the race and felt the bump. But I found the right line because I defended myself. One lap later, however, I was behind other riders and missed the turning point a little. I then touched the kerb and didn’t expect the impact to be so hard. The bike then jumped and I lost the front. Such a mistake obviously annoys me, you just have to avoid it,” said the future Ducati factory rider self-critically.
Marc Marquez still optimistic: Fast in the race in Assen too
With the failure in the sprint and the 1-2 finish of his rivals Francesco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin is now 44 points behind Marquez in the drivers’ championship. In addition, the two also seem to be significantly ahead of him in terms of pace in Assen. But Marquez himself is taking the chaotic Saturday in his stride. His racing pace makes him optimistic for the full race distance on Sunday in the Grand Prix.
“I expect to leave Assen tomorrow with a better feeling and a better result, especially after this difficult day today. The feeling with the bike is good, that’s something that makes me really happy. Yesterday in practice I was doing well in terms of race pace, I felt great and just rode well.” But he is still missing something to keep up with Bagnaia, Martin and Maverick Vinales, who were on the podium today. “The three up front are faster than us, but tomorrow we can definitely fight for a top 5 result.