MotoGP Indonesia Day 3, Marc Marquez (Ducati/Ab) goes up in smoke: "I have to keep the same mentality next year"

A mechanical failure may have ended Marc Marquez's last hopes of a title in Indonesia. It's hard to say if he was as fast as yesterday in the Sprint., but we will never know the answer due to a fire on his Desmosedici GP23. This type of failure has become extremely rare at the highest level; Marquez's retirement is a reminder of the meaning of the term "mechanical" in the expression "motor sport". This is racing, and sometimes it does not reserve respite even for its greatest fighters.

There wasn't much more to say at the end of this Grand Prix. Marc Marquez didn't see the checkered flag and didn't have a scoop. « I was catching up with the right group, but that happens sometimes.. With Ducati and Gresini we win and lose together. There is another race next week, we will have something to catch up on. There were no warning signs, I saw white smoke and I stopped. The fire extinguishers they had here were not the right ones, they damaged the motorcycle  » he confided to the microphones of Sky Sports.

 

 

The Spaniard still took the time to look back on his short but intense ordeal. « I couldn't have followed Jorge Martin and Pedro Acosta, but I could have had a good pace with Morbidelli and Bezzecchi. At the beginning the engine was fine, no signs. My start was good, even better than yesterday. The problem was that everyone copied my strategy from the Sprint. They all went right and I went left. A small move made me go wide in the first corner. Then I lost three seconds in the battle with Fabio Di Giannantonio, but I came back once the track was clear.. The pace was there, the speed too. Let's try to keep this work ethic on the last rounds" he clarified.

 

 

Marc Marquez, now more than 70 points behind leader Jorge Martin, will need a miracle to be crowned world champion. He takes advantage of this interview to look back on his weekend in its entirety. « I need to work more precisely in qualifying. I have never finished a Sunday race in Mandalika, but yesterday I was on the podium of the Sprint, there is something positive to be said" he concluded.

Do you think Marc Marquez is capable of returning to the podium in Japan, as he did with Honda in 2023? Tell us in the comments!

2024 MotoGP Indonesian Grand Prix Results:

 

 

Classification credit: MotoGP.com

Cover photo: Michelin Motorsport