Marquez: To understand limit, you need to crash

The fastest lap time and a fall (or at least a gravity-defying save) - it's a pattern seen many times over the years from reigning MotoGP champion Marc Marquez.

It was repeated on day one of the 2020 season-opener at Jerez, where the Repsol Honda star set the best time of the day during the morning session,  then fell on his way to a close fourth (+0.244s) in the afternoon heat.

The only other rider to tumble was rookie team-mate and younger brother Alex.

"I already said a few times, it's a bike which is quite difficult to understand where the limit is, and it's difficult to learn," said Marc.

"It's what I said last year when Jorge [Lorenzo] started to complain, it's a bike that if you want to understand where the limit is, you need to crash many times.

"How many times have I crashed during my career with a Honda? But then I keep my style. I try to understand the limit in practice, and find the limit, the lines for the race."

Maximising the front-end is essential for a fast lap on the RCV, but has been complicated by the new, grippier, Michelin rear tyre.

"Better grip can be good in the exit of the corner, but in the entry of the corner, it is pushing the front more," Marquez said. "Normally better grip on the rear is better for Yamaha or Suzuki, because they are riding more with the rear tyre, but we are trying to adjust the setup."

Nonetheless, Marc's latest spill - at the turn two hairpin - wasn't simply a case of pushing his front tyre over the edge.

"The crash was a bit strange, because it was not really that I was pushing too much. If you see the front 'jumped' because I lost the front a little bit, but then I missed the grip with the boot and my foot slid, and for that reason the bike jumped," he said.

"Luckily, I was able to pick up the bike and continue, because it was a very slow crash."

Marquez confirmed he is not only using last year's fairing, but also a 2019 chassis.

"We have some evolution in a few parts, for example the engine... My fastest lap today came with the current bike, with the current chassis. Of course we are trying to understand the different chassis. It's difficult in a race weekend, especially after a long time [away], because my feeling with the bike is still not the best one. So it's better to maybe continue with our current chassis."