Marco Bezzecchi
Marc Marquez has admitted that he was not able to use his own ‘instincts’ during the Czech Grand Prix Sprint due to the risk of crashing.
Marquez, 33, continued his road to full fitness this weekend in Brno, after making his return in Mugello before winning both the Sprint and the Grand Prix in Hungary.
On Saturday morning, Marquez qualified in P5, behind the likes of Marco Bezzecchi, Francesco Bagnaia, Fabio Di Giannantonio and Ai Ogura.
In the Sprint, Marquez was one of the fastest riders on the track but ultimately took the chequered flag in third place, with Bagnaia winning the race ahead of Ogura.
Shortly after the race, it was spotted by Neil Hodgson that Marquez looked ‘tired’ during the podium celebrations in parc ferme.
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Marc Marquez says ‘it doesn’t work out well’ when he goes by ‘instinct’
Speaking to the media afterwards, Marquez admitted that he could not use his ‘instincts’ during the Sprint race; otherwise, there was a real possibility that he would have crashed.
The 33-year-old stated that he found the first few laps ‘a little more difficult’ as he waited to adapt to what is needed for him to get the best out of himself.
Marquez told DAZN, via quotes by Motosan: “Those first few laps are the ones I’m finding a little more difficult, especially because if I try to go by instinct, it doesn’t work out well.
“There’s a lot of risk. I still have to compensate with other parts of my body to ride fast. I went out and saw that I attacked the first three corners, but then I realised there was a lot of risk in continuing and getting the braking points.
“I knew that a small movement of the bike could result in a crash, so I decided to wait. When I adapt to what I need, I’m able to move forward.
“I was running on fumes by the end; that’s why, when I got there, I didn’t have anything left to attack.”
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Marc Marquez predicts ‘flat-out’ Czech Grand Prix
Looking ahead to Sunday’s main Grand Prix, Marquez noted that the degradation of tyres will be very minimal around the track, meaning he will have fewer chances to ‘hold back’ physically.
He added: “I need to make a few small improvements, but with that medium rear tyre, I think it’s going to be a long race that doesn’t allow for much tyre management.
“When tyre management is involved, you know you can hold back a little physically, but here the tyre doesn’t drop off much, so it’s going to be flat-out from start to finish.”
Although he is still finding his way back to full fitness after having surgery on his shoulder and foot last month, Marquez is being labelled as a serious title contender.
Following Bezzecchi’s crash during the Czech Grand Prix Sprint, the gap between Marquez and the Italian currently stands at 65 points.
If Marquez does manage to get off the line well on Sunday and win the Czech Grand Prix, that gap will reduce further, which will propel him right back into the mix.
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