Alex Marquez was ready to “stop” in Assen MotoGP before late chaos

Alex Marquez says he was preparing to “stop” before gaining places late on in the Assen MotoGP race.

Marquez arrived at Assen hoping just to finish the weekend after pulling out of the Czechia race last weekend (19–21 June) after qualifying, having tried there to make his return from the injuries he sustained in Catalunya.

However, he was dealt a further blow in Practice on Friday afternoon, crashing at turn four and sustaining some heavy abrasions on his left arm in particular.

Marquez went on to finish 13th in the Sprint, but on Sunday he was much more competitive, riding just behind the battle involving Pedro Acosta, Marc Marquez, and Francesco Bagnaia for much of the race.

Acosta and Bagnaia would both retire with their own issues, after which Alex Marquez and Fabio Di Giannantonio found themselves battling reigning champion Marc Marquez.

A misjudged overtake from Di Giannantonio on Marc Marquez at the final chicane ended up giving Alex Marquez two positions. Di Giannantonio would come back for one of those in the last couple of laps, but it was this late gain that convinced the Gresini Racing rider to finish the race.

“I mean, the first thing is that I finished the race, that also was my first goal, to finish the race and to complete the 26 laps, which for me was quite tough,” Marquez said.

“I wasn't expecting to finish the 26 laps. I said ‘Maybe I'll make more than a sprint and, depending on where I am, I will stop’. 

“But then I was feeling better, I tried to survive all the race, trying to not overheat the rear tyre that I was with the soft [compound], and trying to manage a lot. 

“The slipstream from all that group that I had in front helped me a lot to not overheat the rear tyre and to be really calm. 

“Later on, I was really lucky that there were some guys crashed or with technical problems and all that, and I recovered a lot of positions. 

“Much better, the rhythm and everything, than we were expecting. 

“But it's true that then, towards the end, I said ‘Okay, I'll stop’. But then I saw the position and said ‘Okay, I'll just try to finish the race’.”

Marquez added that the race became harder after Di Giannantonio and Marc Marquez dropped behind him because he lost the visual reference he’d had for the whole race to that point.

“That didn't help me because, behind, I was really comfortable with that group,” he explained.

“Then when I was alone again, I said ‘Where are the references?’ 

“I was not able to save more rear tyre and being in the slipstream in the fast part. 

“But anyway, I was able to finish. I was not able to defend Diggia [Fabio Di Giannantonio] in the last lap because I was finished, physically, but that's okay.”