Alex Marquez explains foot “mistakes” behind Motegi MotoGP crashes

Alex Marquez’s incident-packed Japanese MotoGP came to an early end when he crashed from eighth place in the closing stages at Motegi.

The Gresini Ducati rider, fastest in Friday practice, held fourth in the early laps before serving a double long-lap penalty for causing a first-lap pile-up in the Sprint.

Marquez had also fallen during warm-up, when riders got their first chance to try Michelin’s hard rear tyre.

It had been a foot movement and downshift mistake that caused that crash - and the same problem caught him out again in the grand prix.

“I did mistakes in both the warm-up and the race,” Alex Marquez said. “I just didn't put the foot where I need to put it there, in [lean] angle, and instead of shifting down, I shifted up. Twice.

“Then you crash because [you are in the wrong gear and] the bike is like making a push.”

He added: “Always when you make a mistake, doesn't matter the position, it's disappointing.

“At least we have the positive  that the speed was there, but these are mistakes that I can't make, and especially twice in one day.”

Meanwhile, Marquez said the whole paddock had been surprised by how well Michelin’s reinforced hard rear tyre performed.

The stiffer construction, which became Michelin's recommended choice after some blistering on soft and medium rears in the Sprint, caused problems for Ducati in Austria.

However, it proved highly competitive on the new Motegi asphalt, despite riders ignoring it until effectively being 'forced' to try it for the first time during Sunday's extended morning warm-up.

All riders then picked the hard for the race, despite the standard-casing medium still being available.

“I think everybody [was surprised]!” he said. “I mean, this morning in the box, they were joking a little bit ‘If the hard now is working, we don't understand nothing about the bikes!’

“So, it looks like this was a surprise for everybody.

“But it's true that Michelin changed a little bit the strategy here, because normally when they give the hard casing, it's with the hardest compound that they have during that weekend.

“This weekend it was a little bit different because it was [the stiffer casing but] with the soft [compound]. So we'll have that in mind for the next races if we have this choice again.”

Marquez’s non-scoring weekend also cost him eighth place in the MotoGP world championship to Pecco Bagnaia heading into next weekend’s Indonesian Grand Prix.