Marc Marquez says he is “not a disaster” despite crashing out of a two-second lead in the COTA MotoGP race on Sunday.
Marquez was leading Sunday’s Grand Prix by over two seconds from team-mate Francesco Bagnaia, but lost the bike on the curbs and crashed.
The mistake snapped the Spanish rider’s perfect streak at one of his favoured tracks and saw him overtaken in the riders’ standings by younger brother Alex Marquez.
The Ducati rider accepted he made a “big mistake” with the crash, but dismissed suggestions that this could have a knock-on effect heading into the next round at Qatar.
“Of course, it was a big mistake today because the race was already done,” Marquez said to TNT Sports after the race.
“I was controlling the gap, but I cut a little bit too much at Turn 5 and I lost the front of the curbs.
“Disaster? Yes. But we are humans, we do mistakes. Yesterday, I was not Superman, and today I am not a disaster guy.
“We are doing mistakes, the positive thing is that with that big mistake we are equal on the points, we are there in the championship, so we keep going.”
‘I forced that situation’ – Marquez about COTA MotoGP chaos
Before the start of the race, there was drama as Marquez ran off the grid moments before the sighting lap, and was followed by Bagnaia and at least eight other riders.
The chaos meant race control was forced to delay the start by ten minutes despite some of the riders already electing for slick tyres.
The Spanish rider admitted he felt Ducati had chosen incorrectly with its wet weather strategy, but knew there was no risk in leaving the grid as most of the riders would follow his lead.
“The strategy was clear, I just asked to [Marco] Rigamonti, that is my chief engineer, if the dry bike was ready. He said yes, and I said okay, maybe I will leave the grid,” Marquez revealed.
“Then, because I already know if I leave the grid, then most of them will follow me, and then the start will be delayed.
“I understand from the Michelin guys that three or four riders were already on the slicks. I saw that our strategy on the wets was not a good one, and then I forced that situation.”
Marc Marquez: ‘We will see what happens in Qatar’
The next round of the season sees the grid head to Qatar, and while Marquez will still be favoured, the Lusail track is not one of his favourites.
The Spanish rider has only won once in his MotoGP career in Qatar, but will try to “understand the way to ride” to get back on track.
“Of course, in Qatar, we will see and we will understand there. We will try to start in a good way like we did in the previous races,” Marquez continued.
“Last year, it was my first race with Ducati and it was not bad, so we will try to understand the way to ride there and keep the same level.
“The most important thing is today I understand the mistake, I understand we cut a bit too much that curb and I lose the front. But the positive thing is I crashed with the curb, I didn’t crash on one line so it’s an easy mistake.
“Points? Yes. Sorry for the team? Yes. But tomorrow is another day and the start of a new week.”
