Marc Marquez says his two crashes during Czech Grand Prix practice were caused by trying to conserve energy in left-hand corners, as he continues to manage his recovery from injury.
The Spaniard was among several riders to crash in the opening practice on Friday morning, losing the front end of his factory Ducati at Turn 7 after setting the fastest lap time.
He then went down again at the beginning of the afternoon session, hitting the deck at Turn 11 and sustaining damage to the front end of the bike.
The two incidents took shine off what was otherwise a strong day for the nine-time world champion, who topped the opening session finishing fifth in the all-important Practice, 0.253s down on pacesetter Ai Ogura.
Marquez admitted he was struggling physically by the end of the day and did not have the energy to push consistently across both sessions.
Asked why both crashes came in left-hand corners, he replied: “Because it’s where I relax. Crashing is part of racing, but this morning I crashed at Turn 7, but the mistake was coming from Turn 6.
“Then it was my mistake to not give up on Turn 7. The mistake was coming on the change direction. That was the first time that I really pushed and the idea was going there, but the body was not following, and then I just went too wide at Turn 7.
“Then, this afternoon, that left corner was where I relaxed to save energy for the right corner.
“But it’s true that with that bike I need to be at high intensity, and let’s see if I can increase that tomorrow.”
Following his latest operation, Marquez returned to action during last month’s Italian Grand Prix before winning next time out at Balaton Park.
But while the Hungarian round marked his first visit to the podium in a Sunday race since the shoulder injury he sustained last October, Marquez remains well short of full fitness.
“The first run of this morning was the best feeling of the season, but then step by step during the day, it was getting a bit worse,” he explained. “For that reason, I tried to save energy, for that reason I tried to check the lap time, and I wasn’t constant, but it’s super difficult to do that.
“I feel like here the stress to the right arm is much more on the bike.”
When told he started the weekend by topping FP1, Marquez replied: “But if I can come back, I will finish 10th in FP1 because I used too much energy.”
Marc Marquez, Ducati Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / Getty Images
After Marquez returned to the garage with 10 minutes remaining in Practice, Ducati team boss Davide Brivio signalled the Spaniard to park the bike and call it a day.
At that stage, Marquez was sitting at the top of the timesheets after setting the first-ever sub-1m52s lap at Brno, although late improvements eventually shuffled him down the order.
Marquez admitted he needs to keep his instincts under control, given the physical limitations he continues to face this weekend.
“My plan was to do just one time-attack and then save energy and save risk for tomorrow,” he said.
“Davide and Ducati know my physical condition, they try to save me, because they know that it’s not the time to attack. But at the same time, they know that when I close the visor, it’s difficult to control my instinct.
“So it’s there where I need to be calm. I said in Mugello it’s time to be passionate, but in Mugello was easy, here it’s more difficult, because you feel closer to the top guys, and then it’s more difficult to control your instinct. But I must, so I need to work on that.”
Marquez added that his goal for the remainder of the weekend is to qualify on the first two rows and finish inside the top five in both races.
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