‘Unexpected brake problem’ behind Marquez COTA retirement

Gresini Ducati’s Marc Marquez has explained that his crash from the lead of the MotoGP Americas Grand Prix was down to an “unexpected brake problem” on his bike.

Dubbed ‘the King of COTA’, Marquez was having an impressive weekend in debut colours for the Gresini Ducati team as he qualified on the front row with third place.

The Spaniard then took over the reins at the front as he took the lead on Lap 11 with a stunning overtake on rookie Pedro Acosta on the KTM satellite GasGas into Turn 1.

But his lead proved shortlived as Marquez crashed at Turn 11 on the same lap, citing that the cause was an issue with the front brake when he grabbed the bike’s lever.

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“Disappointing especially because I was feeling good, I was feeling hard, strong,” he said. “But yeah, I’m more disappointed because today the speed was there.

“The feeling was there, but I had unexpected problems with the front brake during all the race that this give me a lot of difficulties to ride.

“I was even able to be in the top group because the pace was not fast, and then just I tried to lead as soon as possible to see if the temperature changed on the brake or something.

“And it was improving the brake feeling.

“But unfortunately, when I braked on that Turn 11, I braked and nobody was there [no pressure] and then in the second time it was better but still too much speed and I lost the front.

“But the most important thing is I feel competitive and this gives me a good mentality.”

Marquez has urged his Gresini team to get on top of the issue for the coming races to avoid spurning a multitude of points when the combination is competitive.

He added: “On data we saw the problem was there and for example we saw on the brake point where I crashed, I braked two times.

“I pulled the brakes, nothing there, no pressure. And then I pulled a second time and it was a bit better but there was no pressure.

“So, now they need to understand. Not only there, also in Turn 12 I was braking two times, three times. So, we need to understand the thing to improve for the future.”