Marquez: There was no way

MotoGP champion Marc Marquez was one of the few riders to hold a media scrum after the decision to cancel Sunday's British MotoGP at Silverstone.

The race was eventually scrapped due to dangerous levels of standing water on the new asphalt, which had caused a spate of accidents at Stowe corner in Saturday's FP4 session, resulting in multiple leg fractures for Tito Rabat.

Marquez, who was due to start fifth on the grid, confirmed that after postponing the race start from 11:30am until 4pm, riders had the final say on the fate of the event:

"They organised a Safety Commission meeting [for the riders] and we sat together and analysed.

"Personally I - and all the riders I think - want to thank Dorna because they listened to us and our comments and from the start of the meeting they said ‘you will have the decision’ and in the end everybody gave their opinion.

"We have one mate [Rabat] in hospital with a very big injury, so we considered the safety first of all and there was no way.

"I’m disappointed and in the Safety Commission  someone said that a race has not been cancelled for 400 races, but sometimes these are the circumstances."

Although rain fell from around 10:30am onwards, it wasn't particularly heavy. The problem was that the water accumulated on the new asphalt, instead of draining away, causing the dreaded aquaplaning.

"You cannot turn or do anything. That's the most dangerous," Marquez said. "There was not a lot of water in parts but with the bumps and everything there were some areas with a lot of water and when you arrive there it is so easy to crash and lock the brakes. That's the problem.

"If you are riding alone on the track you can [handle it] but with 24 bikes riding but if you crash or someone crashes behind you it becomes very dangerous."

Marquez said that Jack Miller was the only rider at the 4pm Safety Commission meeting who still wanted to race, the #93 explaining the others felt a brief window of opportunity had already passed.

And even if a race had been started, Marquez felt the inevitable return of more rain could have spelt disaster.

"We spoke with Jack and there were ten minutes from 2-3pm where it was possible to race, but who could guarantee by lap three heavy rain would [not] start on the back straight and we would arrive there with everyone aquaplaning and have a big injury like yesterday, or a big accident?

"It was hard to wait and then to take the final decision, because we want to race and we could see all the fans in the grandstand. But we have to cool down sometimes and think, but we hope not to repeat this in the future.

"Next year we want to come back and try to compensate all these fans, but to come back in a good way we need to resurface the asphalt."

All of which means that Marquez maintains a 59-point title lead with seven rounds remaining.

"In dry conditions I was ready to fight for the podium. The strongest one was Viñales, so it was OK for the championship anyway, but in wet conditions I am normally very strong but you want to race and win the championships on the track.

"In terms of points we pass this race and we are still leading the championship but we did not increase, and this was my main target: to stay in front of [nearest rival] Valentino and finish the race.

"Silverstone was a good circuit to attack but I won't think about it now because we still have the same advantage and still seven races to go, so a lot of points."