MotoGP: Marc Marquez 'Surprised' British Grand Prix Turn Around After Saturday Crash

Despite a crash during Saturday's sprint race, Marc Marquez impressively rebounded at the British MotoGP.

Apr 14, 2024; Austin, TX, USA; Marc Marquez (93) of Spain and Gresini Racing MotoGP before the MotoGP Grand Prix of The Americas at Circuit of The Americas. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports / Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Marc Marquez astonished fans and competitors with a dramatic recovery during the British MotoGP following a disheartening crash during Saturday's sprint race. Despite starting Sunday's main event in the middle of the pack, Marquez showcased why he remains one of the sport's elite competitors.

Early in the weekend, Marquez appeared to struggle, particularly during Friday's practice where he couldn't find the pace with medium compound tires. However, a pivotal change in bike setup during the warm-up session on Sunday morning marked a significant turnaround.

Speaking to the media after the race, the Spanish rider commented, as quoted by Crash.net:

“Honestly speaking it was a great surprise. We were always in delay [catching up] this weekend and then in the warm up we tried something that helps me a bit more."

Implementing these tweaks, Marquez was remarkably able to shadow the pace of race leaders right from the start, which he described as the weekend's best surprise due to his previous struggles with the tire configuration.

“For that reason, I was able to keep pace with the front riders in the beginning of the race. This was the best surprise for me. Because I have never been fast with the medium rear and medium front tyres.

“But I felt super good in the race. And then I was quite conservative in the end because the mistake from yesterday was on my shoulders.”

Marquez's newfound pace saw him overtaking pole sitter Aleix Espargaro and aggressively pushing to widen the gap.

“Without the crash yesterday, maybe the podium was possible today - or another crash! You never know! But when I overtook Aleix, I just pushed 2-3 laps to open a gap and then I was controlling more behind than [looking at] Pecco.

“Because for my mentality, I cannot make two mistakes in the same way, yesterday and today. So for that reason, today I preferred to finish and leave with a good feeling for Austria, than arrive there without confidence.”

Despite not achieving a podium finish, Marquez’s performance was instrumental in his learning and adaptation to the Gresini Ducati.

“It's my first year [on this bike]. In some race tracks we start like Jerez and don't touch anything. And here we start with our base but we changed completely the bike and in the end we improved.

“There’s always a question mark [when you arrive at each track]. Always we try to be ready, with two different ways [to set-up the bike], but in FP1 sometimes it's difficult to understand.”