On this Sunday, August 8, 2021, Marc Marquez answered questions from journalists from the Red Bull Ring circuit, at the end of the Styrian MotoGP Grand Prix in Austria.
We went to listen (via teleconferencing software) to the words of the Spanish rider, who finished the event in eighth place after experiencing difficulties with his machine during the second part of the race.
As usual, we report here the words of Marc Márquez without the slightest formatting.
You were the only Honda rider to use the carbon-free chassis. Why did you choose this one? Furthermore, Pol [Espargaró] complained a lot during the weekend about a lack of grip at the rear without being able to remedy it. What was the outcome on your side?
" It is true that I am the only Honda rider to have used this chassis, but as I said on Thursday, the team brought back a new part and we needed to gather information about this new part to better understand how to achieve the better balance for the motorcycle. So Honda asked me to drive with this chassis, and for me it wasn't a problem because I had nothing to gain and nothing to lose either. Afterwards, it is obvious that if I agreed to race with this chassis, it is because I felt a certain potential. And in fact, I felt a high level of performance and potential during the race, I had excellent sensations. »
“During All weekend my pace was more in the low window of 1'34, and before the race was interrupted my pace was good, I felt very comfortable. But at the restart, from the exit lap and in the first lap I felt that something was wrong. However the bike was the same, the only change we made between the two parts of the race was the tires. But at the restart I had the impression of no longer having any grip, and then I had difficulty throughout the race with the grip at the rear, even in the braking phases and when accelerating. exiting turns. So we need to understand why this happened. »
"But The problem must not have been just the tires. After all, everyone had the same tires available, even if absolutely from one tire to another we can lose performance. So I simply tried to concentrate on myself, but it's true that the worst feelings appeared during the second part of the race, because during the first everything was going well for me. Another race will take place here in Austria soon, and I hope we will have understood by then what happened. »
You had two incidents with Aleix [Espargaró] in the first corner. During the first he was very angry at your behavior on the track, and afterwards he was very upset with the Race Direction, explaining that you should have received a penalty. Do you think his reaction is understandable or on the contrary that he is overreacting a little?
" We know what Aleix is like. If we had to complain after each contact... In Assen he hit me hard in the last corner and I almost fell. However, I never complained about that. Here during the first part of the race, I had contact with Joan Mir who was trying to overtake me. He touched me and I didn't complain, it was just a race. »
“We know what Aleix is like…”
" For speaking frankly, if anyone made a mistake in the first race, it was indeed me, because he went a little wide and I tried to take the inside, and I didn't expect to get such a big contact but that's what happened. On the other hand, during the second part of the race, it was his fault. I got a better start than him, and I was right next to him at the braking point, while for my part I had Fabio Quartararo on the inside: So I couldn't avoid contact. To summarize: The first incident was my fault, and the second was his. »
You mentioned your grip problems, but generally your strong point is your ability to recover from a bad place on the grid or a bad start. After this race and the summer break that preceded it, what is your assessment of your level of riding, as well as your ability to return to your previous level?
" It It’s clear that I’m still not at my best. Friday I wasn't angry but I felt a kind of frustration, because I expected greater progress in my physical condition after a month of break. But I accepted that and just tried to focus from there.
“It’s clear that I’m still not at my best”
" After, it is true that the race did not reflect our true position. By that I mean that during the weekend we were strong, even if we couldn't do better than eighth in qualifying, but our pace during the weekend was half a second faster per lap overall. What's a shame is that I couldn't reproduce this pace during the second part of the race. But today that just wasn't possible. It's true, however, that I also made a few mistakes during the race. I went wide in some corners, because when you lose rear grip, you lose in all phases of the corner: braking, turning and accelerating.
You explained that on Friday you were quite disappointed with your physical condition and that you expected to come back from the summer break stronger than that. What was it like during the race?
“During The race I felt pain as usual, but it was acceptable. I would say the pain did not increase during the race. This is clearly something positive. Afterwards, it's true that I rode in the 1'35 window, which in itself is quite slow, but that's all I could do today. But at least I managed to be consistent.
MotoGP Styria – Race Standings
Classification credit: MotoGP.com
