Marquez: “I saw a scooter with a key in it…”

Marquez: “I saw a
scooter with a key
in it…”

He had to ‘borrow’ a scooter
to do it, but Marc Marquez
salvaged fourth after crashing
during a difficult Q2 in
Assen.

Tags MotoGP , 2016 , MOTUL TT ASSEN , Q2 , Marc
Marquez, Repsol Honda Team, #DutchGP , Reaction
Saturday was a very challenging day for
the MotoGP™ World Championship as
rain came and went at the TT Circuit
Assen, the track rarely fully wet nor fully
dry. During Free Practice 3, Marc
Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) managed
the second fastest time. It wasn't a
straight forward session as he suffered a
massive moment heading into Turn 1,
calling on all his skill and a bit of luck to
save a fall. The near crash was so violent
that the airbag in his leathers went off.
When the rain came for Free Practice 4
Marquez quickly adapted to the situation
and topped the session. It seemed certain
that Q2 would be wet, but just how wet
remained an unknown.
By the time they hit the track for Q2 the
rain had stopped and the circuit was left
in a difficult state, some areas closer to
being dry than others. Marquez was
pushing hard on his first flying lap when
he made a mistake and crashed at Turn 8.
He didn’t even check his bike, sprinting
straight to the service road where he
found a scooter not in use, racing back to
the pits. He had a moment to catch his
breath as his mechanics finalised the wet
setting on his second bike, Marquez
charging to fourth place with a 1’46.430.
All things considered, fourth place is a
very solid result.
Marc Marquez: “In free practice this
morning we were able to do a good job in
dry conditions. We managed to maintain
a good pace and try out several things
with the bike. We went back to the
previous setup and it worked well. Later
we had to deal with Assen’s typical
‘surprise factor’—we all know that it can
rain at any time here—although FP4
went well for me. I made a mistake in
qualifying and crashed on the second lap.
The marshals were a bit far away, and I
saw a scooter with a key in it and nobody
around. When I took it, I saw that it
belonged to a photographer, but he let me
go. I wanted to get back to the pit as
soon as possible, so honestly I would’ve
taken it even if he said no! Thanks to the
great work done by the team, I was able
to get back out on track for two laps and
we managed to finish fourth. The
important thing is that I feel comfortable
in the dry, not superior to the others but
at ease enough to fight. In case of rain it
will be kind of a lottery, as always.”