Marc Marquez: Aleix Espargaro contact in Styrian MotoGP ‘just racing’
Honda’s Marc Marquez has responded to criticism from Aleix Espargaro following two collisions in Sunday’s MotoGP Styrian Grand Prix, but accepts blame for one incident.
Marquez made heavy contact with Aprilia’s Espargaro at Turn 1 on the opening lap of the red-flagged Styrian GP on Sunday, which left the latter utterly furious on track.
In the second start, the pair made contact again at Turn 1, though on this occasion Marquez was forced into the side of the Aprilia rider after Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo carved up the inside of the pair of them.
Espargaro dropped down the order to 16th after that contact and eventually retired with an engine issue.
He expressed anger at the race stewards for not handing out a penalty to Marquez, but the Honda rider doesn’t believe the collisions were over the limit and feels the blame is 50/50 across the incidents.
“We know Aleix,” Marquez said when asked by Autosport if Espargaro’s comments were an overreaction. “If I need to complain about all the contacts, what can I do?
“In Holland he touched me in the last chicane and I nearly crashed and I never complained.
“Here, also in the first race I had big contact, [Joan] Mir tried to overtake me and I had big contact, he touched me and I didn’t complain.
“I mean, this is racing. And then it’s true – and always I try to speak honestly – in the first race, if somebody made a mistake it was me because he went a little bit wide and I go in because in that corner if you just have a doubt it’s easy that somebody can come and make up a lot of positions.
“So, I go in, I didn’t expect to have such a big contact but it was there.
“And in the second one, it was his mistake.
“I started better than him, I was in a very good position, in the brake point I was parallel with him.
“But he released the brakes and went in, but Quartararo was inside and we had contact. But first race my mistake, second race his mistake.”
Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Marquez ran inside the leading group in the first race before the red flag, but struggled immediately at the restart with grip having changed tyres and could no better than eighth.
“Definitely in the first race, the potential and the performance was very high, I felt very good,” he added. “All weekend my pace was 1m24s middle, 1m24s low. I mean, the first race I was riding in a very good way, very comfortable.
“But in the second race, already on the out-lap and the first lap I realised that something was not in a correct way.
“The bike was the same, we only changed the tyres from race one to race two, and in race two from the out-lap the grip was zero and I struggled all the race with rear grip, even stopping and exiting the corner.
“It’s true the only change was the tyres but we can’t complain only about the tyres, we must understand because everybody has the same compounds, same tyres.
“But it’s true from one tyre to the other one we can lose some performance. Maybe that was the main reason today.”
Related video
Previous article
Pedrosa “very lucky” in fiery Styrian MotoGP crash
Next article
The Suzuki upgrade that made Mir’s Styria MotoGP victory battle possible
How KTM has wrestled control of young MotoGP talent from Honda
There once was a time when Honda controlled any young rider who emerged in motorcycling, but its market dominance has now swung to the side of MotoGP rival KTM and, to a lesser extent Ducati. Could this development have significant ramifications for the future?
Why Marc Marquez has to reinvent himself as a MotoGP rider
Marc Marquez's romp to victory at the Grand Prix of the Americas led many to believe the 'old' pre-injury Honda rider was close to coming back to his full powers. However, the 'old' Marquez will probably never exist again and instead he'll have to adapt to his new reality to return to title-winning ways in 2022
The Marquez self-preservation that fulfilled a COTA MotoGP “dream”
Marc Marquez scorched to his seventh Circuit of the Americas victory in MotoGP last Sunday with a display reminiscent of his pre-injury form. However, his path to the win across the weekend was in keeping with the current reality of his physical limitations, with self-preservation on Saturday key to his Sunday success
How Ducati has developed MotoGP's most versatile bike
His third place at Misano made Enea Bastianini the fifth different Ducati-mounted rider to score a podium in 2021. Amid a season that has seen one rider amass the bulk of Yamaha and Honda's success, the Ducati's versatility makes for a potent weapon, but the contribution of a former leading light shouldn't be forgotten
The next steps in the rebuilding of a stalled MotoGP career
Maverick Vinales’ early debut with Aprilia has been one of the most interesting plots of the recent MotoGP rounds. The results may not look standout on paper, but a closer inspection reveals just how much progress Vinales has truly made in understanding a bike that has taken him well out of his “comfort zone”
How ‘El Diablo’ and ‘the Beast’ starred in MotoGP’s Misano contest
On a day each of the podium trio could claim to be the star of the show, the San Marino Grand Prix will be remembered as a pivotal race in both MotoGP’s present and future. While Fabio Quartararo demonstrated his world title credentials just behind Francesco Bagnaia’s flawless victory charge, a new threat emerged from the shadows
How Ducati’s Aragon MotoGP win harks to its past and its future
Duelling against Marc Marquez at the Aragon Grand Prix, Francesco Bagnaia came out on top to secure a long overdue MotoGP victory. As Marquez likened Bagnaia to a Ducati title contender of old, it appears the Italian rider could finally start to fight for wins on a more regular basis
Why Dovizioso is more of a temporary fix than a Yamaha gamble
OPINION: The return of Andrea Dovizioso to the grid at Misano will be an interesting subplot to the remainder of the 2021 MotoGP season. But the circumstances that have led to the former Ducati rider ending his sabbatical point to his signing being one more of convenience than a long-term commitment
