The Japan GP has been a weekend to forget for Alex Marquez, who left Motegi without scoring a single point. The Gresini Racing rider had a performance well below his expectations, especially after a promising start in the practice session.
Marquez’s difficulties began during Saturday’s sprint race, where he made a mistake at his braking point at turn 3, colliding with Pedro Acosta and Fabio di Giannantonio, resulting in a double sanction with a ‘long lap penalty’.
Despite the penalty, he managed to position himself competitively during the Sunday race, but he fell to the ground on lap 19, marking his third fall of the weekend and the second of the day. Marquez admitted that his accidents were due to an erroneous gear change that left him in a higher gear at the wrong moment.
The Spanish rider expressed frustration with himself, considering it unacceptable to make two mistakes of this type in one day at such a high level of competition. ‘Trying to shift to second, I accidentally shifted to fourth, which is serious because I’m a size 44,’ Marquez said, expressing his displeasure with the result.
After a day marked by falls, Marquez commented that, despite having a good pace, these errors are unacceptable for a rider with his experience. In the end, he noted that it was disappointing to miss an opportunity that seemed favorable, especially considering that his brother, Marc Marquez, had achieved victory with Ducati.
Moreover, Marquez emphasized the need to review long penalties, expressing that some tracks are harsher than others compared to the Motegi circuit, where he lost significant time due to the penalty.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
