Márquez: "Very simple, in qualifying I didn't believe in myself"

April 9, 2022

Austin.- Marc Márquez is going through one of the most delicate moments of his career as a driver, and that is something he cannot hide. It shows in his gesture and, although he keeps things to himself, he doesn’t make too much effort to mask it either.

It is not easy to hear the Spaniard speak of fear and lack of confidence, and these two terms have come out of his mouth on several occasions since he landed in the United States on Wednesday.

The brutal accident he suffered during the warm up in Mandalika, the second stop on the calendar, which forced him to miss that test in Indonesia and the one last Sunday, in Argentina, caused him to reproduce the diplopia (double vision) that he already had. forced to miss the last two races of 2021. The moral blow, however, was greater than the one that was carried in the body after the accident in Indonesia.

“In qualifying I didn’t believe in myself, it’s that easy. Throughout the weekend I had worked well, in my rhythm. But in Q2 I ran into traffic, so I didn’t want to push. With the second rubber I had some problem that prevented me from tightening as I would have liked. The first line would not have been possible, but the second I think was my position. Luckily I start the ninth, because it was my worst lap”, explained the Honda rider at the end of the day.

After qualifying, Fabio Quartararo pointed to the Spaniard as the first favorite for victory this Sunday, despite starting from the end of the third row of the grid.

“I can’t be the favorite starting ninth. If you look at it, I had a very strange weekend. But it was the only way to survive. I only pushed a couple of laps on Friday, and a couple of laps in qualifying. But the only normal training was FP4, where I tried to understand what my pace was. This is the way I have to work right now.”

Despite his quick comeback after less than 20 days out due to a new episode of double vision, Marc cannot forget the terrible accident he suffered in Mandalika that forced him to miss two races.

“I come from one of my worst weekends of my life, a strong accident. I said it on Thursday, that I did not have good feelings. In that context it is normal for a person to have doubts”, admitted a Marc who never He had given glimpses of fear.

“When I put new tires in qualifying I didn’t feel comfortable, I got a little scared and I didn’t push,” the runner maintained a sincere tone.

“I took the same risks as in Indonesia, but there every time I put on new tires I went to the ground. After a weekend like the one in Indonesia, of being ‘out’ for two weeks, not physically but upside down, being here it’s already very important. I can’t focus the weekend on attack”.

Despite the physical and emotional component of the situation, the characteristics of the new 2022 Honda RC213V do not help the rider’s style either.

“Honda is working on having a competitive bike on European circuits, which are smaller. This bike needs a lot of track to turn and to take advantage of the rear grip. That is not Honda’s DNA,” he warned.

“A lot of what happens tomorrow will depend on the start and the first lap. But you have to take the risk, because I’m here to compete,” concluded the man from Cervera.

Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team