Marc Marquez says "loose" Brazil MotoGP track cost him a podium
A late mistake on a degrading track surface cost Marc Marquez a MotoGP podium in Brazil.
Marc Marquez saw his Brazilian MotoGP podium hopes slip away after being caught out by the degrading Goiania track surface.
Having claimed his first victory of the season in Saturday’s Sprint, the Ducati Lenovo star made a mistake at the same corner where he passed Fabio di Giannantonio for victory the previous day.
This time, the pair were fighting over third place behind the Aprilias of Marco Bezzecchi and Jorge Martin.
While Bezzecchi led from lights to flag, Martin capitalised on a block pass by di Giannantonio on Marquez to overtake them both in the early laps.
The VR46 rider continued to hold off Marquez until the reigning champion struck back with four laps to go.
But shortly after, Marquez suffered a scare on the loose surface, which had already caused the race distance to be reduced from 31 to 23 laps.
“The podium was possible, but unfortunately, I made a mistake in a corner where the asphalt was coming loose,” Marc Marquez explained.
"It was acceptable conditions to [race]. But it's true that if you touched that point, which was on the racing line, it was super slippery.
"And on that lap, I touched a little bit, I lost the front, and then I went to the kerb.
"I decided on the kerb not to lean a lot. I knew that Diggia was close and he would overtake me, but better a fourth place than a crash."
Although di Giannantonio’s earlier move had cost him two positions, Marquez had no complaints.
“di Giannantonio passed me with a block pass. We both went wide, and Martin passed us. But that’s the only way to overtake here, because it’s hard to use the slipstream on the main straight.”
After retiring from the Thai season opener with wheel rim damage, Marquez now heads to the Circuit of the Americas holding fifth in the world championship, 22 points behind Bezzecchi.
“Compared to Thailand, I felt much better and I’m satisfied with my race,” GPone.com quotes Marquez as saying.
“We need to keep improving but if we look at the entire weekend and the points acquired, it was a good weekend.”
di Giannantonio is currently the leading Ducati rider in the MotoGP standings, in fourth overall and 19 points behind Bezzecchi.
Marquez’s factory team-mate Francesco Bagnaia crashed out of 11th place just before half distance.
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