Obviously absent from the podium after his fall mid-race, Marc Marquez hastened to return his Honda RC213V with its damaged side directly into his box, once his lap of honor was over.
At 17 p.m., he nevertheless invited the journalists for a debriefing in the gigantic hospitality of the HRC.
If the Honda driver's smile was always present on his lips, the picture he painted there was hardly encouraging in the short term, with three words that constantly returned like a leitmotif in his mouth; lack of acceleration!
“Honestly, I had a great race and a great weekend because we had a lot of problems, but in the end, I was there, close to the podium, which was the main goal. It was the best we could do today. But I suddenly lost the front at turn #5.
I'm disappointed, yes, but it happens when you lose a lot in acceleration and you come back in the braking phase. Driving like this for 28 laps, it's easy to make a mistake like this because during braking you only control with one finger.
I also chose the hard front tire, which was a good option for me. Ok, it was riskier, but it was the only solution to be able to attack when entering a corner and turn. With the soft, and the behavior of the Honda, it would have been impossible to finish the race.”
Your fall has nothing to do with Dovi's?
"No. It's hard to see on TV, but I think I fell a little before. When I realized he had fallen, I was already in the gravel. So it has nothing to do with Dovi's fall. It was interesting because we both lost the front the same way.
As I said, I'm disappointed, but now we have to focus on Mugello and Montmelo, which are somehow different from Jerez and Le Mans; there are more fast turns.
Two years ago I would have said it will be worse, but now it can be better.”
We're at championship level, we're starting from scratch...
“(laughs) Yes, I would prefer to be in the lead, but I crashed here and, honestly, it was already difficult to finish the race in Jerez. If you want to win the championship, you must both manage risks and try to attack. Today, when Valentino overtook me, I didn't try to overtake him because I knew where my position was. It was not possible to finish the race in a good way.
It's true that we fell, but the positive thing is that we are only 5 points behind Jorge. We know it looks like both Yamaha riders are stronger than us, but whatever happens, we will try to continue like this and see how we can manage it.”
How significant is this lack of acceleration compared to the championship?
“The problem is that we lose a lot of acceleration. If we can improve the acceleration, we will have one of the best bikes. But you lose a lot and on the straights you have a bit of free time and it's really difficult mentally to see that you can't keep up with the others on the straights.
But I know Honda works hard. I have confidence in Honda and it won't feel like complaining all the time. Now it is like this, and we will have this for at least two more races, but we will give 100%.”
Today, only one Honda finished without problems…
“Last year, on this circuit, I was the only one to finish the race. This year, it's Dani. This is a circuit where we had this problem last year; we lose acceleration, and we have to attack braking, and so it's very easy to lose the front.
It's true that when you drive like that during testing, 5 laps each time, it's easier. You just concentrate for 5 laps while driving like that for 28 laps is really difficult. We tried to find the best settings for the bike and we know. The important thing is to know where we need to improve, but on the other hand, it's difficult to improve during the season because the engines are fixed for everyone. So it’s difficult for me.”
How would you rank the motorcycles in relation to acceleration, and when will you see an improvement?
“If we make a ranking according to acceleration for me it would of course be Ducati, Yamaha, Suzuki and Honda first. We lose a lot on the Ducatis, then on the Yamahas, then the Suzukis, then we are here.
We will see. We have a test after Montmelo. I haven't spoken to Honda but I expect something. I know they are working hard to try to improve the acceleration, and especially the wheelie, because the power is there, but we can't use it. So we need to understand what’s going on.”
