Did Marc Marquez take unnecessary risk at Assen? "At home, it doesn't change"
Just a week earlier, the Repsol Honda rider had suffered a fractured rib and🅠 finger, plus ankle damage,ꦆ in a warm-up highside - his fifth and final accident of a punishing Sachsenring weekend.
It ruled the eight-time world champion out of the German MotoGP race, but he was back on his RCV just a few da﷽ys later for Friday practice in Assen.
Clearly struggling with pain from the rib, Marquez was a shadow of his usual self,🐠 managing just 19th on Friday, then 17th in qualifying and the Saturday Sprint race before the pain became too much to contﷺinue.
But Marquez didn’t regret trying and insisted he would go into the summer break with ‘better confidence’ than if he🥃 had skipped the Dutch weeke꧙nd entirely.
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“It’s not the best way [to go into the summer break], but it's better than how I finished in Sachsenring,” Marquez sಌaid.
“In Sachsenring, I finished with a massive ☂highside.
“[At Assen] I finished with not the best✱ feeling, but able to ride a MotoGP bike with one broken rib and one broken finger - and even like this be 7-8 tenths behind the fastest guys.
“So this gives me better confidence tha🀅n after the Sunday in Sachsenring.”
Marquez added: “With the fe꧋eling of Sachsenring, to then be of🎶f the bike for two months [during the summer break], believe me, that's not the best for a rider.
“I needed to keep riding, keep 🍰going, keep trying… [Staying] at home, the situation will never change.”
Marquez began the season with pole and a Sprint rac𓂃e podium in Portimao, but then fractured his thumb when he collided with Miguel Oliveira in the Sunday race and missed the following three rounds.
Sunday accidents at Le Mans and Mugello combined with the early exits at Sachsenring and A🐲ssen means Marquez hasn't completed a single 'grand prix' race so♑ far this season.
Despite his reduced track time, Marquez's 14 accidents so far this season is more than any other 🦋rider.
Peter has been iไn the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki𝓰 exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
