Marc Marquez says his MotoGP Americas Grand Prix crash was due to an unspecified “small problem”, but hinted it may have been related to the engine of his Honda.
Marquez crashed out of a commanding lead at Turn 12 in Austin last time out to end his unbeaten streak at the Circuit of the Americas, which dates back to his maiden MotoGP victory in 2013.
The Honda rider says the tumble was ultimately “my fault”, but admits an issue which had first appeared in Argentina, and was exacerbated by CoTA's numerous first-gear turns, was a contributing factor.
“Of course in the end it was my fault because I crash,” Marquez said in the Spanish Grand Prix pre-event press conference when asked about the cause of his crash.
“But during the weekend I said we have a small problem we needed to fix, and this small problem was there in the race.
“And it's this race track where we have first gear corners [which is] really strange, and was first time this season we have this kind of corner.
“We had this problem, and it was difficult to understand for me why I crashed because I was riding really good, really smooth like in Argentina.
“I didn't expect it. But after deeply analysing with my team, we understand the crash was coming from something.
“I cannot say what, but was coming from something that I didn't expect; was coming in some laps, some laps no. But they fix and this is the most important thing.”
Marquez says Honda brought something to Austin which it “expected to fix” the issue – which he hinted may have been engine related – but a further test with Stefan Bradl after the Austin race appears to have rectified the problem.
He also admits losing FP3 in Austin to the weather would not have made a difference, while brushing the end result off as “nothing”, as he only slipped nine points behind standings leader Andrea Dovizioso.
“[Honda brought something for Austin, and they expect to fix [the issue] there,” he added.
“But we saw that we didn't fix. But now they test with Bradl, and now it looks like it is fixed.
“So this is important. It's something that is normal, we are in the fourth race of the championship, the engine is new and sometimes [problems] happen.
“But after a zero in the championship, after a mistake, we are only nine points behind the top guy. So it's nothing, we are there."
This isn't the first technical issue Honda has experienced in 2019, as both Marquez and team-mate Jorge Lorenzo suffered chains jumping off their bike's sprocket in Argentina and Austin.
The bike which Lorenzo suffered the issue with in Austin qualifying was sent to Japan to be checked by HRC. The issue is thought to be resolved now. He also retired from the race in Texas with a mechanical fault, but was adamant it had nothing to do with the chain.
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