Marc Marquez Discusses Silverstone Sprint Crash and Qualifying Controversies: ‘Superpole is Boring

Marc Marquez "unexpectedly lost control of the front" | Drafting? "Superpole is dull"

Marc Marquez: "That's how it is. We're pushing the limits. As we observe in every race, mistakes happen."

A collision during Saturday’s Silverstone Sprint race resulted in Marc Marquez losing his third-place position in the MotoGP world championship standings to Enea Bastianini, who clinched the victory.

Following the incident where reigning champion Francesco Bagnaia crashed, allowing Marquez to move up to fourth place, Marquez also experienced a crash a few laps afterwards.

After losing contact with the frontrunners, the Gresini Ducati rider faced difficulties due to an insufficiently warm hard front tire and crashed at the last chicane with three laps remaining.

“I was really pleased with my race since my goal was to aim for fifth place. Even without Bagnaia's crash, I achieved that,” Marquez commented.

"My comfort level with the bike kept improving. However, it was due to several factors. We opted for the hard front tire, which was pushed to its limits on the left side. As I began to fall behind the lead group, the temperature of the front tire decreased, making the situation more precarious, especially on that left turn."

“When you use the hard tire, it generally indicates that the grip might be fine, but there is less feedback due to its stability. I barely touched the white line, attempted to recover, but suddenly lost control of the front end without any prior warning.”

"But here's the situation: we're all going at top speed. Everyone else is also going at top speed. And, as we observe in every competition, someone inevitably slips up."

Due to Bagnaia’s mistake, Marquez is still 56 points behind the leader, but he has brushed off any discussions about being a serious contender for the championship.

"Sure, we have a possibility, but as I mentioned in Assen, we're not in a place to contend for the championship. Since Le Mans, we've been managing to salvage our Sundays at the last moment. Eventually, you might save one, two, or even three Sundays, but there will come a time when we won't manage to save one, or when we will make a mistake."

"Ultimately, there are three racers—Bagnaia, Martin, and Bastianini—who consistently outperform us. Bastianini, in particular, is currently showing significant strength. As a result, our strategy is to hang in there, minimize our point losses, and aim to finish in the top ranks by the end of the championship."

Towing? "Superpole lacks excitement"

Earlier on Saturday, the qualifying session was disrupted by a large number of riders who were sluggishly navigating the track, looking for a draft.

Marquez had joined their ranks, but it eventually worked against him when he got stuck behind Marco Bezzecchi.

Marquez expressed that he would feel fortunate and pleased if others were to follow him, as it would indicate that he is the quickest. He added that racing has always operated this way and will continue to do so unless changes are made to the qualifying format, such as implementing a Superpole system.

"However, looking back, Superpole was uninteresting. I didn't mind it personally, but in Superbikes, it was a single rider at a time, which made it lack excitement."

Ultimately, when you trail behind someone, you benefit in certain ways. As evidenced today, everyone was lingering at the conclusion of Q2, anticipating the quickest driver, and that’s the reality of the situation.

When asked if automatic penalties for slow sectors should be implemented in the top class, Marquez replied:

“However, the plan will be executed in the pit lane, similar to the current approach in Moto3.”

"As I mentioned yesterday, this Grand Prix is the first one this year where I'm trying to catch a slipstream. Ideally, I wouldn't have to do this, just like in previous races. However, the rules are rules, and it's not up to me to change them."

However, enhancing your lap time while following another rider is not assured:

"Today, Bezzecchi exited the track at Turn 3, positioning himself between di Giannantonio and me. He set his quickest lap time on that run, but it was just 59.6 seconds, which slowed me down. However, there was no penalty given, and I think that was the right call."

“In the end, as long as you’re not bothering anyone else, it’s fine.”

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