Marc Marquez: Brazilian MotoGP track surface “coming loose”
Marc Marquez says the track surface at the Brazilian MotoGP was “coming loose” during the race.
Marc Marquez says the moment that cost him a podium at the Brazilian MotoGP was caused by the track surface “coming loose”.
The 31-lap race at Goiania was set to be the longest, in terms of number of laps, on this year’s MotoGPcalendar, but five minutes before the start it was reduced to 23 laps owing to track degradation.
The problem area was in the chicane at turns 10 and 11. Marc Marquez had recently passed Fabio Di Giannantonio for third place when he slid wide there and relinquished the position. It ultimately proved to be a mistake that would cost the reigning MotoGP champion the podium, but the Ducati rider revealed afterwards that the track conditions contributed to it.
“When you're off the podium, you're never happy,” Marquez said, as reported by GPOne.
“I tried to improve throughout the weekend, from yesterday's Sprint to today's race.
“In the end, we brought home important points for the championship on a track that worried me a bit, especially because of the many right-hand turns.
“Today, the podium was possible, but unfortunately I made a mistake in a turn where the asphalt was peeling off.
“I lost the front end because I pushed too hard. As I said, though, this was an acceptable weekend.”
About the moment that cost him third place, Marquez added: “The asphalt is coming loose. In general, the conditions allowed us to continue but if you went over that spot, which was right in the racing line, it became very easy to lose grip.
“When I hit it, I lost the front end.”
Marquez said that he stopped pushing to catch Di Giannantonio after the slide at turn 12.
“After that mistake I decided not to push too hard,” he said.
“I knew Di Giannantonio was behind me and would attack me, so it was better to collect points than risk a crash.”
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