On the last day of pre-season, Marc Márquez suffered his first fall since joining Gresini Racing, losing control of the Ducati during a race simulation. The incident was a consequence of pushing the limits of the bike, which he is still getting to know.
It was the explanation the Spaniard gave to the press: ‘Of course you never want to crash and you want to stay on the bike. But it’s true that for example when I crashed I saw that I was going wide. I was going in too fast, but I said: «OK, but where is the limit of this bike?». And then I did the long run with 12 laps and the plan was to arrive to 18 laps, more or less. But then I said: «There are five laps remaining, I will try to increase one step». But maybe I increased in the point we cannot do with this bike. So I lost the front on turn four. But it’s important also to understand that, because so far I was riding very smooth, consistently, but I had never attacked the last tenths’.
Márquez also said: ‘In racing we always say the last three tenths are the most difficult ones. So this is where I am now: I’m two or three tenths, even four sometimes, behind the top guys and now we need to understand how to be closer’.