Marc Marquez reckons that choosing the safer option in his final corner battle with Alex Rins cost him his second Silverstone MotoGP victory.
The Honda man was beaten to the line by Rins’ Suzuki by just 0.013 as he ran wide at the final corner of Woodcote, allowing Rins to undercut him and just make it past before the finish.
The pair had been embroiled in a thrilling battle throughout the entirety of the 20 lap contest, Rins pushing Marquez all the way but deciding to shadow him rather than take the lead and make an escape attempt.
The championship leader tried to defend for all he was worth throughout the final lap, hugging the inside line at pretty much every corner before deciding to put his championship aspirations first as he ran into difficulty on the entry to Woodcote.
Marquez revealed that a small slide meant he had to quickly choose whether to close the gas and potentially settle for second, or risk going down.
“I tried to do the most difficult thing and win, but then at the last corner I closed the throttle a bit too much and both tyres started to slide,” said Marquez.
“When that happens you can either keep full throttle and try to stay on the inside or close the gas and be safe, so I chose to close the gas as it’s not the same as fighting when you’re leading the championship compared to when you’re not.”
“Of course I’m not happy because I lost out on another win, but the championship is now looking very good and for that reason we are working hard and will try to fight until the very end but inside the limit as I can’t make any mistakes.
“That’s the target and at a circuit I struggle at I finished second and less than a tenth back so this is the most important thing for me and the team.”
Marquez’s second place still allowed him to extend his championship advantage once again as main rival Andrea Dovizioso failed to finish due to his huge accident in which he picked up a concussion, meaning his lead grows to 78 over the Italian with seven races remaining.
