Should’ve won? Marquez’s crazy German GP weekend explained –

“I promise you I would exchange the win for standing next to my brother on the podium, it’s an amazing, amazing feeling,” he told MotoGP.com at the finish.

It can’t be said for sure – but every time he ran in normal conditions, Marquez showed the speed to at least win.

One of the big limitations Marquez faced on his Ducati was how he started the weekends and how long it took him to get up to speed, especially over a single lap, but Marquez was comfortably the fastest of those who gave up on fresh tyres in the opening practice session and looked capable of setting a lap time that would outstrip everyone else for much of Friday’s practice.

But perhaps “at will” was the wrong word here. A crash in the closing stages of the morning’s 45-minute session raised the early alarm, and then a nasty fall on the first plane of the next hour-long session ended any chance of an easy weekend.

Cruel Paradox No. 1

The Wasserfall corner at the Sachsenring is not a good plan for a crash, but what happened was merely A high-speed car on the low side due to a bent front end turned into a bad high-side car once Marquez’s knee touched the ground.

He later admitted that he was trying to save himself from the accident, when he normally wouldn’t. “That was the problem,” he admitted. “If it doesn’t work, at that moment you have to jump off the bike and that’s it.”

So why didn’t Marquez do exactly that? Because at that moment he feared it would mean the end of his tour and an unwanted ticket to the first round of qualifying.

Second crash of the day @MarkMarquez93 But this was huge! 💥

The 8-time world champion suffered a serious injury at Turn 11! 🤯 Fortunately, Marc was declared fit after a quick medical! ✅#German Grand Prix 🇩🇪 pic.twitter.com/4wBUtv98lh

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) July 5, 2024

Marquez had gone out for the start of the first practice and immediately returned to the pits because the bike was not working. After using the spare tyre, he went out with the broken bike again in the second practice – and brought it back to the pits.

The mechanics swapped the intermediate front and intermediate rear tyres to the spare bike, cooling the rubber down a bit in the process. This, given the very windy conditions, led to the front tyre slipping at the start.

“I said, ‘What, this is not possible’, I tried to save, because I knew that the other bike was not ready and that the training was over. [if I crash]”Marquis explained.

“But fortunately, a miracle happened to the mechanics and they were able to find the problem. It took them two days to find the problem with the bike, and then they found the problem in just 10 minutes. It was a stupid problem.”

Had Marquez known the other bike would be working – which was conclusively proven later in the session – he likely would have avoided injury.

Marquez said breaking his left index finger in the accident “wasn’t a problem.” He added simply: “Because it’s broken, but it’s okay, it’s acceptable.”

But the rib bruise left him restricted, struggling to run longer distances due to increasing pain when he “started breathing deeper.”

“I promise you that if we are in the right position[-dominated] “A circle that is impossible to ride. But with only two right angles, I can accept or bear this pain.”

Cruel Paradox #2

Marquez once again emphasized the fact that the pace He was He then returned to the track and set the best time of the session on a soft rear tyre, before pain forced him to stop the race.

But the chequered flag proved to be too far away in terms of time remaining, with Marquez eventually dropping to 13th as the racers picked up the pace.

That meant – amidst the intramuscular injections to ease the pain – the first break on Saturday morning, which a fit Marc Marquez was supposed to come out of with ease, and an exhausted Marc Marquez was supposed to come out of with ease too.

But while in transition, his second ride was cut short by a mechanical problem that forced him back to the pits, leaving time for just one lap on the other bike – a lap that was then ruined by Stefan Bradl.

The roll is ruined ❌

Game over for @MarkMarquez93 It also faces @stefanbradel On his way! 😱

The incident is under investigation ⚠️#German Grand Prix 🇩🇪 pic.twitter.com/Mtqu0FatAS

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) July 6, 2024

Bradl, a former Moto2 title rival of Marquez’s, became a close friend and Honda teammate. He was caught in no man’s land at the apex of Turn 2 after deliberately running off the track at Turn 1 – and while he was cutting across the track in a desperate attempt to avoid getting in the way, he did so anyway, but in a more dangerous manner.

Speaking to Red Bull-owned TV channel Servos, Bradl had no reservations about taking the blame, although he also suggested the tight nature of the Sachsenring played its part.

Marquez did not seem in the mood to accept his apology right away, but he quickly calmed down.

“For me, I have a very good relationship with Stefan. He said to me: You are the last person I want.” [to do this with]“There, in the accident, I was angry – I wasn’t angry with him, I was more angry because it was the last lap and I had a mechanical problem.” [earlier].

“But that’s normal. Here at the Sachsenring, it’s normal because it’s a very narrow track and it’s difficult to understand. The second thing is that when you’re in the race, it’s sometimes very difficult to understand how fast the other bikes are going. So, there’s no problem with Stefan.”

Recovery function

After a weekend like that, Marquez would probably have been happy with the way Sunday’s race went even without the added advantage of sharing the podium with his brother.

He moved himself up to ninth on the opening lap, then methodically worked his way past the likes of Raul Fernandez, Enea Bastianini and Miguel Oliveira – with Maverick Vinales himself being pushed out of the way by a mistake.

But as Franco Morbidelli closed in on Marquez, the Italian went off course at Turn 1, causing the pair to collide as Morbidelli returned to the racing line, costing Marquez a significant chunk of lap time there – with his subsequent efforts to fight off Bastianini, overtake Morbidelli and then overtake and pass his brother, another indication of the kind of pace that was on offer.

Contact us! 🤯

Disaster was averted after @MarkMarquez93 And @Frankie Morbido12 I crashed 😱#German Grand Prix 🇩🇪 pic.twitter.com/blPyxK7JjX

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) July 7, 2024

The wait for the first win is still on, and with the strength of the Desmosedici GP24 at the moment, this was probably the best chance.

But Marquez certainly didn’t seem to be thinking about that at the end of the race. He’s already won 59 MotoGP championships and will be working hard to win again, whether on a Gresini or a Ducati.

He also didn’t seem entirely convinced that he really won. He was Marquez was on his way to victory, with Bagnaia and Jorge Martin still quicker. Given Marquez’s insistence that he was not hampered by his injuries on Sunday, but only in the days before, the fact that he dropped from a second behind Bagnaia at the halfway point to nearly four seconds behind at the chequered flag certainly suggests he was not going to win easily.

But as we mentioned earlier, there was a crash with Morbidelli. And there was also the track location, which is a bigger factor at the Sachsenring than at most other circuits.

“You only have one or two points to overtake. The last corner or the first corner. Then you can’t do anything. You’re not Superman. In that first corner, once you get through corner one to turn 12, you can’t overtake, it’s impossible.”

So, winning was probably quite possible. But there is enough maybe On the other hand, it suggests that this could not be guaranteed.

In this context, trading the chance to win 60 points for the chance to share the podium with his brother is almost an obvious choice.