Alex Marquez “mistake” led to him “trying to survive” in Australia MotoGP sprint

Gresini’s Alex Marquez admits he made a “mistake” in his front tyre choice for the MotoGP Australian Grand Prix sprint, which meant he was “just trying to survive”.

The 29-year-old made a rapid launch from sixth on the grid aboard his Ducati GP24, as he briefly snatched the lead into the first corner.

Alex Marquez was then demoted to second by Trackhouse’s Raul Fernandez at Turn 2, before an error at Turn 4 allowed eventual sprint winner Marco Bezzecchi through.

The Gresini rider clung onto the podium battle in the ensuing laps, but would fade to sixth at the chequered flag as his pace fell away.

He has now explained that his drop in pace was down to him selecting the medium front tyre instead of the hard, which proved to be the majority option.

“Not a really good race, but not a bad one,” Marquez said.

“So, I think we solved it in quite a good way.

“I made a mistake myself by choosing the medium front tyre. It was, after two laps, I said, ‘You made a mistake’.

“I was just trying to survive, trying to be there on the rhythm.

“It’s true that also when we have the soft rear tyre, we suffer a lot.

“We have many, many, many problems. We saw it in qualifying. I was able to ride, but not to put everything together because we have 100 problems.”

Indonesian Grand Prix-winning team-mate Fermin Aldeguer had a similarly difficult sprint, as he crashed out in the latter stages.

“We probably could have done better in qualifying,” he noted.

“Starting from seventh place isn't exactly easy on a track where overtaking is difficult, but it didn't go badly.

“Unfortunately, I crashed in the race, fortunately without any injuries.

“We're struggling a bit, but the conditions will change the balance tomorrow, and we hope to be among the frontrunners.”