Marc Marquez’s Rollercoaster British MotoGP: From Sprint Crash to Near Podium Finish

Marc Marquez: "Big shock, podium within reach – or another accident!"

Despite falling during the Sprint, Marc Marquez is pleasantly surprised to feel "really great" in the British MotoGP, as he closes in on Francesco Bagnaia and a podium finish.

Following a seventh-place qualification and a mishap during the Sprint, Marc Marquez was "surprised" to maintain the leaders' pace during the initial half of Sunday's British MotoGP.

He confessed that the error he made on Saturday burdened him and likely robbed him of the opportunity to overtake Francesco Bagnaia for a podium finish.

After facing difficulties during Friday's practice sessions, Marquez found himself trying to make up for lost ground. While he was on track for a secure fourth place before his fall during the Sprint, he admitted that he had "never been quick" when using the medium compound tires required for the full grand prix.

Following a setup adjustment made during the warm-up session, the Gresini Ducati racer closely followed eventual victor Enea Bastianini for the initial half of the 20-lap race, staying right behind the front-runners.

As Bastianini, who will be replaced by Marquez in the factory team next season, started overtaking the three riders in front of him, Marquez advanced to fourth place by overtaking Aleix Espargaro, the pole sitter and winner of the 2023 race.

The eight-time world champion started to close the gap on Bagnaia, reducing the distance by 1.5 seconds over the final two laps, and ended up nearly close enough to challenge the current two-time world champion.

"It was genuinely a big surprise," Marquez commented regarding his speed on Sunday. "We were constantly playing catch-up throughout the weekend, but during the warm-up, we tested something that ended up assisting me a bit more."

"That's why I managed to stay with the leading riders at the start of the race. It was a pleasant surprise for me, as I've never been quick with medium front and rear tires before."

"I felt really great during the race. Towards the end, I decided to play it safe because I was still thinking about the error I made yesterday."

Marquez stated that without his cautious strategy, he could have either beaten Bagnaia or crashed.

“Without the incident yesterday, a podium finish might have been achievable today – or perhaps another crash! You can never tell!” Marquez grinned. “But after I passed Aleix, I pushed hard for 2-3 laps to create some distance and then I was more focused on those behind me than on Pecco.”

"Given my mindset, I can't allow myself to repeat the same mistake on consecutive days. Therefore, I chose to end today on a positive note and head to Austria feeling confident, rather than arriving there without self-assurance."

Though he was close to catching Bagnaia at the finish line, Marquez was himself just under a second ahead of VR46 Ducati racer Fabio di Giannantonio.

Marquez’s main focus at the Red Bull Ring in two weeks will be to begin the weekend on a high note starting with the Friday practice session.

"It's my debut year with this bike," Marquez commented. "At certain circuits, like Jerez, we begin without making any adjustments. However, here we started with our standard setup, but we ended up making significant changes to the bike, which ultimately led to improvements."

"There is always uncertainty when arriving at a new track. We consistently aim to be prepared with two different bike setups, but it can be challenging to comprehend everything during the first practice session."

Marquez has dropped to fourth place in the world championship standings, now trailing Bastianini by 13 points. However, he has extended his lead over Maverick Vinales, who is in fifth place, by 49 points.

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