Alex Marquez explains why he was a ‘passenger’ during the German Grand Prix after Ducati set-up issue

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Alex Marquez managed second place on his return from a scary crash at the Dutch Grand Prix, and remains in a comfortable second place in the MotoGP riders’ championship.

An attritional German Grand Prix saw the Spaniard inherit two positions that he otherwise may not have occupied, as Marco Bezzecchi and Fabio Di Giannantonio crashed at turn one.

Running a calm race without pushing the limit, Marquez was able to remain ahead of Francesco Bagnaia until the finish, where he crossed the line just over six seconds behind Marc Marquez.

The Gresini rider now trails the six-time champion by 83 points in the standings, with half of the season to go. The title feels like a foregone conclusion.

Marquez’s battle with Marc is ‘complete nonsense’ according to Ralf Schumacher, who believes that the two know each other too well. His relationship with brother Michael in Formula 1 wasn’t quite as close.

Just one race ago, Marquez was caught out by Pedro Acosta and was unsure how to approach his battle with him, which may have contributed to his crash.

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Alex Marquez was a ‘passenger’ through left-hand corners at the German Grand Prix

MotoGP fans couldn’t believe a ‘ridiculous’ Marquez decision after it appeared that he backed out of battling his brother in the Dutch Grand Prix.

But they have both refuted any criticism of their riding styles against each other. Alex feels as if he fights fairly with everyone.

His crash on the Sunday in Assen left him with a broken hand, which he has spent the last two weeks trying to recover from.

It was a success, and returning in time for Germany has produced plenty of reward, but he did mention after the race that he struggled in left-hand corners.

“I ride not in a good mood. I was riding really stiff. At the end, it was like an arm pump completely on the left side, my shoulder, everything,” he told TNT Sports.

“Because I was really stiff, I didn’t have the bike to take the grip, to turn. It’s just like I was a passenger and ‘OK, another left one’. Hopefully, in Brno, I will be a little bit better. More right corners.”

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How Alex Marquez has proven he was right to return to MotoGP at the German Grand Prix

With just one week to go until the MotoGP summer break now, Marquez will be able to rest for as long as he wants after the Czech Republic Grand Prix.

It’s likely that he won’t necessarily need to work with his brother on his training bike, especially if he risks further damage during August.

By avoiding any accidents both at the Sachsenring and Brno, he will have avoided another major hurdle in his road to recovery.

Being 100% fit for the Austrian Grand Prix and beyond will be significant for him, particularly if he wants to convince Ducati that he could be a potential replacement for Francesco Bagnaia in the future.

As unlikely to happen as it is, if he manages to win a few more races and continues to beat the Italian, he will have been considerably better than him this year.