Marc Marquez Reflects on Rare Assen Crash: ‘A Mistake, But Fortunate to Avoid Injury

Marc Marquez reflects on his "error" following a crash during the Assen sprint

'The silver lining is that I could have sustained an injury, but fortunately, that was not the case – particularly earlier today'

For the first time this season, Marc Marquez did not complete a MotoGP Sprint race due to an unexpected crash at the beginning of the second lap in Assen.

The Gresini Ducati racer, who began in seventh position following a quick crash during an attempt to overtake Aleix Espargaro at Turn 7 in the qualifying round, moved up two spots on the first lap.

However, his race was cut short shortly after when he hit the inner curb at Turn 2, causing a jolt that led to his downfall and eventual exit.

“It’s always bad to make an error and have an accident,” Marquez stated.

"Right from the initial lap, I touched the kerb slightly and noticed a bump, so I decided to be cautious on the following lap."

"However, trailing the group, I lost the racing line, struck the bump once more, and failed to regain control of the front."

"It's unfortunate for the race, as the bike was performing really well. We now have to regain that feeling during the warm-up."

The eight-time world champion mentioned that the good news is that he avoided injury, particularly during the incident this morning at Turn 7.

Numerous riders were standing by for a tow. Subsequently, Aleix passed me at the final turn, causing me to be somewhat trapped behind him.

"I really didn't intend to pass him, but when I noticed he was setting up for Turn 7, I seized the opportunity."

"I wasn't driving significantly quicker than my best lap, but I encountered a bump. Fortunately, I crashed by myself."

Due to the Sprint incident, Marquez is now trailing by 44 points behind the championship leader Jorge Martin and is 29 points behind his upcoming factory Ducati teammate Francesco Bagnaia.

Bagnaia and Martin ended the race in the same positions they had secured during qualifying, taking first and second place on Saturday.

With Marc unable to continue, his teammate and brother Alex was the sole Gresini rider to finish the race.

Alex had a challenging race, maintaining fourth place for a significant portion of the Sprint. However, in the final laps, he fell to seventh position and was handed a long lap penalty due to crossing track boundaries.

Marquez received a three-second penalty after the race, causing him to drop a position and finish behind Fabio Quartararo in eighth place.

"If there had been two fewer laps, the outcome might have been entirely different," he remarked.

"All jokes aside, we faced some difficulties with the rear tire towards the end, but we did manage to collect valuable data on the front hard tire, which will be crucial for the main race."

"We need to make some adjustments now, and by tomorrow we should be in a position to compete for a top-five spot."

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