Márquez identifies the weak points of the Honda

The eight-time world champion finished last Sunday’s Jerez race in ninth position, the second on his return after nine months out due to injury.

Although he is not yet in his optimal physical condition, he said that his condition was better on the bike than in Portugal and that allowed him to better understand the 2021 Honda for the first time this year.

Having lapped behind his teammate Pol Espargaró, HRC tester Stefan Bradl and Pramac Ducati rider Johann Zarco at the Spanish GP, Márquez realized that the 2021 RC213V suffers in the middle and at the start of the curves.

“I had the opportunity to follow Stefan, to follow Pol and also to follow Johann for a few laps,” explained Marquez when asked by Motorsport.com where he had found the worst bike compared to the last Honda he rode. “And where we lose the most is in the middle and at the exit of the corners.”

“If you want to drive fast and consistent, that’s where you have to be strong and that’s where we’re losing the most. So we have to understand why. Now we’re trying to analyze everything.”

“For me, the key of this weekend is that I have improved my physical condition a lot compared to Portimao.”

Márquez had hoped to continue testing the bike at Monday’s post-race test in Jerez, but called it quits after just seven laps due to neck pain from his hair-raising crash in FP3, which he admitted left him “broken.” “.

“I only did one run and in the second I already noticed something,” he said Monday. “My body was blocked, especially the neck and also the right shoulder.”

“It’s something similar, but better than in Portimao. There I raced and suffered a lot, and then on Monday I was completely blocked. But here in Jerez I felt better.”

“It’s true that the crash I had on Saturday didn’t help, but I tried anyway because I thought that maybe when my body warmed up it would be fine. But right away I saw that I wasn’t at a good level to ride the bike and test things” .

The Honda riders had an intense test on Monday, with all of them testing various new parts, including five new fairings.

After calling his RC213V a “disaster” after the Jerez race, Espargaró expressed his bewilderment that each Honda rider worked in different directions during the Spanish GP weekend, which he felt was holding him back. the development.