Alex Marquez started this offseason with good intentions. It was a question of confirming his encouraging second part of the 2020 season and showing his advantage within a Honda clan welcoming Pol Espargaró, while awaiting the return of Marc Marquez. Unfortunately for the Spaniard, it was quite the opposite that he experienced, with too many falls, which ended up injuring him, while he finished last of the four representatives in RC213V. This is not the best result to calmly wait for the start of the competition which will take place on the same Losail track…
Alex Marquez finished a modest 18th place in his offseason testing at Qatar. His gap with the best time in the combined ranking led by Jack Miller on his Ducati was 1,501 seconds. Worse, with five falls in four days and a foot injury, we cannot say that the new pilot LCR has built solid confidence before launching into the fray of the 2021 season, at the end of the month, also in Losail.
However, Alex Marquez puts things into perspective, including his injury. But he does not hide a hint of concern regarding the relationship that the Honda with tires Michelin on this route… On his fall which took place on Thursday, he first comments: “ I fell during the attack on the clock. It was a highside at turn 9, luckily I'm fine », commented the pilot Honda LCR who is therefore not worried about his injury, modestly presented as “ a small fracture in the right foot ».
Specifically, a two-millimeter fracture of the fourth metatarsal was found during the medical check-up. An injury considered serious enough for the doctors not to give him permission to continue his work. It remains that for the opening of the season, at the end of the month, Alex Marquez don't worry: It's a small fracture. At Le Mans 2017 I drove with a completely broken bone, but on the left side. So it was the selector back then, this time it's only for the rear brake. So I guess it won't be a big problem he said.
Alex Marquez alert on the front tire
« I got to a point where I felt better with the bike. I was trying to win in a corner where I was already fast, for example faster than the lap than Pol Espargaró. But I made a mistake » analyzes the teammate Nakagami who feels sorry for the team. “ It's a special track. There are a lot of falls and it is also difficult to understand the hot conditions with the medium and hard. These things will be difficult to manage during the Grand Prix ».
A remark on the tires which leads to more in-depth expertise on the part of the driver: “ it is difficult to understand the hard front tire, but also the medium, which is a little harder on the right side » explains the Spaniard. “ You hardly get no feedback and you slide forward very easily. I tried the hard and medium tires in the first hours, and maybe the medium tire was a little better. But it's very easy to fall ».
In view of the next Grand Prix of Qatar, the pilot LCR therefore worries: “ It will be a bit risky because we will only have five soft front tires. You have to be careful with that. FP1 and FP3 will not count for much ". To this prognosis, he adds: “ we have a good base ». Pol Espargaro, simple beginner on the Honda, in fact revealed it…
MotoGP Tests Qatar 2: combined ranking
Credit rankings: MotoGP.com
