Marc Marquez explains "mistake" as he saved a near-highside at German MotoGP

Marc Marquez saved a near-highside on Friday at the German MotoGP.

The Ducati Lenovo rider, chasing a ninth MotoGP win at the Sachsenring on Sunday, topped Friday’s FP1 and was fastest on used tyres during afternoon Practice.

However, he was bumped to third in the closing minutes by Fabio di Giannantonio and younger brother Alex Marquez, who each fitted multiple new soft rear tyres.

Earlier, he suffered a big rear slide during one of his long runs on the medium rear tyre.

“I was trying the medium rear tyre, it was quite hard. Maybe it wasn’t at the perfect temperature,” Marquez explained.

“I pushed too much. I knew I was coming into a 1m 19. With the medium tyre, it is a super fast lap time.

“Then I pushed too much. It was my mistake.”

Marc Marquez: “I need to take risks, but…”

Marc Marquez warned he’ll need to walk a fine line between aggression and caution during what’s expected to be a wet and unpredictable Saturday at the German MotoGP.

Marquez opted for just one time attack run on Friday, choosing instead to focus heavily on tyre endurance and set-up over Sunday’s long 30-lap race distance, currently forecast to be dry.

But first, he has a possible wet qualifying and the Sprint to negotiate.

“Saturday looks like it will be a tricky day, especially with the rain conditions,” Marquez told TNT Sports.

“First, we need to understand the championship situation. We need to understand that next week we have another race [at Brno].

“So what do I mean? I need to take risks. But inside the limits.

“Always you can crash and in rain conditions, it is super difficult to manage the limit. But I will try to find the perfect feeling with the bike.”

"It was my mistake" – Marquez explains near highside

Marc Marquez explains Friday German MotoGP strategy

With wet weather predicted throughout Saturday, Marquez stressed the importance of Friday’s dry running.

The Spaniard completed extensive long runs in both sessions and said his time-attack wasn't a priority.

“Today we worked in a good way, it was a busy day,” he said.

“Tomorrow we expect rain so the next time in the dry, if we are lucky, will be Sunday.

“Today we tried the different tyres. We concentrated a lot on the tyres and I felt comfortable.

“On the time attack I did only one [new soft] tyre. The feeling was not perfect.

“But when the tyres start to drop I feel good.

“The time attack is only two laps, the race is a lot of laps! Let’s see if we can manage in the same way.”

Marquez starts Saturday in Germany with a 68-point title lead over younger brother Alex and having won every Sprint race this season, barring Silverstone.