Marc Marquez explains why he crashed at Sepang MotoGP test
“I put a new tyre to do a time attack, but unluckily I crashed in that turn nine.”
Fourteenth on the timesheet is not necessarily where you’d expect to find either Marc Marquez or a factory Ducati, but that’s where the Ducati Lenovo Team’s newest signing ended up on the second day of this weeks’ Sepang MotoGP test.
Marquez described his crash, which happened in braking for the slow-speed turn nine, as “typical”.
“I had a typical crash on that turn nine that is the slowest corner on the circuit,” Marquez told MotoGP.com’s After the Flag show.
“[Late in the day] I put a new tyre to do a time attack,” he added, “but unluckily I crashed in that turn nine.”
Marc Marquez update on Ducati test plan
Marquez’s crash didn’t prevent him from getting through all the work he and the Ducati team had planned, though.
“But we did all the jobs today, everything we had on the plan,” he said.
“I was very careful all day because we have a specific job to do, that is trying to find the direction for 2025, especially about the engine and aero, and Ducati want to be very precise on that, and at the same time conservative because they want to choose the correct decision.
“We tested a lot of things today. I think we already understand what is the way, but tomorrow we need to reconfirm.”
For the second time in two seasons, Marquez is moving teams and changing crew as a consequence, but the eight-times World Champion is sure that he is fitting in well with his new team.
“Good,” Marquez said of his embedding into his new crew. “The crew, still I don’t know a lot because they are working all day, then when I stop I’m speaking with the engineers and they need to change something on the bike, so we don’t have time to spend [with each other].
“But, with [Marco] Rigamonti at the moment I feel okay.
“It’s true that still we don’t work a lot together, because all the ideas, all the material we need to try is coming from the engineers, but he’s clever [about] how to plan the day and I like it.”
Marquez added that he has been suffering a little physically this week, but he’s not yet sure if he’s sick or if it’s because of a lack of sleep.
“Today I don’t feel good,” he said on Thursday.
“I don’t know if I’m getting sick or if I don’t sleep very well. So, tomorrow we will see, because I only sleep five hours with the jet lag last night, so let’s see tomorrow if it’s because I’m sick or because I don’t sleep.”
Alex joined the Crash.net team in August of 2024 having covered consumer and racing motorcycle news at Visordown for two years.
