Marquez: It wasn't Johann's fault, it was mine

Marc Marquez refuses to blame Johann Zarco for slowing him on his fastest qualifying run; says he should have timed his attack better.
Marquez, Italian MotoGP 2017
Marquez, Italian MotoGP 2017
© Gold and Goose

Hidden away from the front page of the qualifying result sheet, there was solace for Marc Marquez. The overall classification didn't make for the most pleasant reading - sixth place, his worst performance in Q2 in two years -, but his ideal time did.

Had Marquez not found himself behind Johann Zarco on his final flying lap, he would have placed second according to his ideal split timings. But rather than blame the French rookie, the reigning world champion held up his own hands.

"It was not the fault of Johann," he said on Saturday afternoon. "It was my fault. Johann was pushing all his lap. I tried to take him to have some reference in the slipstream on the straight because with Honda we feel a lot when we have some slipstream and we improve a lot the lap time.

"It was my fault because I start the lap too close to Johann and immediately at the third or fourth corner I was behind him. I didn't make the best strategy. I didn't make my best quali.

"The positive thing is that in the ideal time we are second. That is not so bad. Especially on the race pace it looks like we are quite good but we need to try to work with the wear of the front tyre. The rear drops but for me the biggest problem is the front tyre."

Marquez had complained of a similar issue on Friday, as he failed to find a good feeling with Michelin's asymmetric medium compound tyre. His notorious, late-braking style normally overworks the front, making it overheat, which in turn necessitates his choosing of the hardest compound available.

However, with Sunday's temperatures expected to be considerably lower (six-seven degrees) than those that greeted riders on Friday and Saturday, Marquez will leave a final decision on his front tyre of choice for the 23-lap race until warm-up's completion.

"Yeah but now it's in a different way. You feel that the casing is there and I like it on the braking point but then after a few laps the [hard] compound is too soft for this temperature.

"We are using the same tyre in the morning with 35 degrees on the track and in the afternoon it is close to 50. For everybody it is the same and I need to change a bit the riding style to try to adapt to the front tyre.

"It's the hardest option that we have but I try the medium because on the right side it's harder than the hardest option. The left side then is much softer. Then the balance of the tyre I don't like a lot.

"It's true that on the right side I feel much better but on the left side we need to be more careful. With the other tyre [the hard] I need to be careful everywhere but it's more constant.

"I need to check well which one works better and it depends on the temperature because maybe the medium one can work well if the temperature drop."

While FP4 and qualifying suggested a host of names could be challenging toward the front on Sunday, Marquez singled out the Movistar Yamaha pairing of Maverick Vi?ales and Valentino Rossi, team-mate Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso as the men to beat.

"It's difficult to understand," he said. "When you see the papers it's difficult to understand who will have the best race pace. Both Yamaha riders will be there. Then Dovi has a good race pace. And then my team-mate, Dani will also be competitive."

And not Zarco, undoubtedly 2017's surprise package? "[It] Depends because Zarco looks competitive but you never know. In the Quali he was fast but he was tenth. But in the first laps Zarco will be there. We need to check well."

By Neil Morrison

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