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Marc Marquez Reflects on Unexpected Crash at Spanish Grand Prix
In a surprising turn of events at the Spanish Grand Prix, main championship contender Marc Marquez found himself unable to articulate the reasons behind his crash, which ultimately relinquished the points lead to his brother, Alex Marquez.
Marquez, riding for the factory Ducati team, slipped from third position on the third lap—a concerning occurrence given that this marks his second crash in what has otherwise been a strong season. The first incident took place two weeks earlier during the Americas Grand Prix.
“I understand why I crashed in Austin,” Marquez remarked following the race at Jerez. “Today, I don’t understand.”
He elaborated, asserting, “I need to analyze that because I was not pushing hard. I was simply following the leaders, much like I did in previous races. I knew that my strength would come in the latter half of the race.”
When pressed for a possible explanation, Marquez suggested that his position trailing other riders—specifically leader Fabio Quartararo and teammate Francesco Bagnaia—might have contributed to the mishap.
“I haven’t reviewed the data yet, but perhaps my lean angle was slightly off—maybe just one degree more. What’s evident is that it was the first time during the weekend I was directly behind other competitors,” he stated.
Marc Marquez, Ducati Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
He continued, “It’s possible that the tire performance varied compared to earlier sessions, and perhaps I didn’t account for that, which led to my mistake.”
Despite the setback, Marquez managed to remount his damaged Ducati and recorded impressive lap times. He climbed back to finish in 12th place, earning four valuable championship points, and even clocked the sixth-fastest lap as the race progressed.
Now sitting just one point behind Alex after five of the 22 races this season, the eight-time world champion remains composed. “The key takeaway is that our speed is intact, but we must eliminate the errors,” he noted. “I’m satisfied with our pace. If the pace wasn’t there alongside the crash, then it would be a two-fold issue to address. Fortunately, we just need to focus on avoiding mistakes going forward.”
Source
www.autosport.com