Marquez admits “I gave up a little bit” just to avoid more damage at Sachsenring
Marquez withdrew from his beloved German MotoGP last Sunday following a fifth crash of the weekend during warm-up.
A crash that finally saw Marquez have enough of the Honda, the Spaniard decided not to take part in the race after ankle, hand and rib injuries caught up to him.
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"It was a very tough weekend," said Marquez on the eve of Friday practice in Assen. "The thing is, if you are pushing and you crash, you accept it, like I accepted it in the qualifying practice.
"You understand why you crashed because you are riding at the limit.
"But after the warm-up crash, already on Saturday I said I would give up a little bit and just keep going, and in the sprint race I was slower and was not doing my [true] pace.
"I didn’t push more than what I felt with the bike. Then on the warm-up I had an unexpected crash on just the second lap, without pushing, but for that reason it is the most difficult to understand as a rider."
Marquez, who was speaking during the pre-event press conference, later added that his physical condition will make it unlikely for him to extract the full potential from his Honda this weekend.
The six-time MotoGP champion added: "It’s like I did the last two seasons. If you are not ready regarding your physical condition, then you cannot find these last 3-4 tenths that normally you need to push a lot [to find] on the change of directions and braking area.
"This weekend we will see. Maybe I’m smoother and faster, but this is one of those weekend’s where you arrive not ready to push.
"In Germany I was ready to push and pushed too much. I will try to keep going and will try different things on the bike, keep working with my team and with Honda."
