MotoGP, Marquez in crisis at Silverstone
Marc Marquez finished the Silverstone Sprint in ninth place, after a race much more complicated than expected. The world champion started very well, trying to fight for the podium, but already halfway through the race he had to deal with an impressive drop in rear tire performance, which prevented him from maintaining the pace in the second part of the race.
From the perspective of a third place, Marquez had to surrender to the tire and was easily overtaken by Marco Bezzecchi, Pedro Acosta, and his brother Alex. And in the last laps he only thought about reaching the finish line to avoid risking a crash.
Marquez’s words
“We need to understand what happened with the rear tire degradation, if it was me, if the setup can help, if I can help this tire, and if the team can help me manage it. We need to understand the reason for the drop, because already on the third lap I was wondering what was happening. I tried to manage it, but it was too late, the tire was already ‘open’“, this was Marquez’s comment to Sky Sport MotoGP. “I had a lot of graining, and when there is graining the bike can throw you off at any moment, both entering and exiting corners. So, rather than finishing sixth risking it, I preferred to finish further back: I lost 2-3 points and it changes little, but if I had crashed it would have changed a lot more“.
Read more Bezzecchi, tears for third place: “I had no strength, but I gave everything”
The Spaniard is nevertheless satisfied with his performance: “I felt good on the bike. I am happy not for the Sprint, but because it is the first time this season that I have shown speed on a circuit where I struggle. It means that little by little we are going in the right direction, and that I have started to ride a bit more aggressively. For tomorrow, an optimistic goal is fifth or sixth place“.
In short, Marquez is in defense mode before shifting into high gear at Aragón, his ideal hunting ground. Tire management will be one of the aspects to keep most under control, and if the top-5 really arrives Marquez can consider himself satisfied.
Read more Ogura, alarm for the tire drop: “Tomorrow with the Medium it can happen the same thing”
