Marc Marquez says he had no “warning” before he crashed out of MotoGP's British Grand Prix sprint at Silverstone with a little more than a lap to go.
The Gresini rider was running in fourth place in the final stages of Saturday’s half-distance race, having recovered from a difficult qualifying that had left him seventh on the grid.
But on the penultimate tour, the Spaniard slightly wide and lost the front end before hitting the deck and skidding on to the gravel trap at the edge of the track.
Although he was able to remount his battered GP23, the six-time champion was forced to bring the bike back into the pits - and was visibly frustrated as he took his spot in the garage.
Marquez was one of the few riders to opt for the hard front tyre, which offers more durability at the end of the race, but it came to be his undoing as he suffered a loss of tyre pressure after dropping behind the leading trio.
However, the late accident still came as a surprise to him.
“I was super happy about my race because my target was to try to be in that fifth position and I was there,” he said. “I don't count the crash of [Francesco] Bagnaia.
“I felt better and better with the bike, but it was a combination of things. To be able to ride like this, we put the hard front tyre.
“It was very on the limit on the left side. Especially on the last lap when I started to lose the front group a lot, the front tyre temperature started to drop and on that left corner was more critical.
“When you put the hard tyre, it means that maybe the grip is okay, but the warming is less because it's not moving.
“There just I touched a little bit the white line and I tried to come back and without a warning I lose the front - but it's like this.
“We are riding super fast, they are riding super fast. And as we see every race, somebody is gonna make a mistake.”
Factory Ducati rider Enea Bastianini scored his first victory of 2024 in the Silverstone sprint, beating Pramac’s Jorge Martin and polesitter Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia).
The result allowed Bastianini to close within 11 points of third-placed Marquez in the championship, but the Spaniard remains 56 points behind leader Francesco Bagnaia after he also retired from the race.
Marquez reiterated that he doesn’t see himself as a realistic contender for the title, while admitting that his life is being made tougher by the resurgence of Bastianini.
“Of course we have a chance, we are on the points, but I already say in Assen we are not in the position to fight for the championship,” he said.
“From the French GP, from Le Mans, we are saving Sundays at the last-minute,” he added, referring to salvaging decent results after qualifying poorly.
“In the end you can save one, two, three, but [there will be some] that you will not save, will be another one [where] you will make a mistake.
“In the end, [there are] three riders [Bagnaia, Martin and Bastianini], especially now Bastianini is coming very strong, that are constantly faster than us.
“So we cannot do anything. We just try to survive, try to not lose a lot of points, and try to be on that top position.”
