‘You need to be against the fear, sector one my strong point' - Marquez
Marc Marquez had a day of two halves during Friday’s free practice sessions at the Spanish MotoGP Grand Prix as he finished FP1 third fastest, but chose not to put a soft tyre in during the afternoon session - dropped to 16th overall.
Marquez had to go through Q1 nearly two weeks ago at the Portuguese Grand Prix, and faces that potential tomorrow unless he can claim a top ten position during FP3.
However, lap times and positioning were once again not the primary focus for Marquez as he continues to evaluate his physical condition.
Takaaki Nakagami was the fastest Honda rider overall, but Marquez was still quicker in some areas, particularly sector one - turns three and four, which is the double left.
Speaking after the day’s running, Marquez alluded to this part of the track being a favorite of his, while it’s also the scene of last year’s season ending crash: "I checked the data today, especially after FP1 because after FP2 I didn’t have time. In FP1 especially in T3 and T4 I was the fastest guy of Honda.
"They are left corners, corners I love. The first lap I passed there I was a little bit like, ‘OK’, we passed. But from that point we ride in a normal way and I was the fastest guy on Honda in that particular corners.
"Also sector one is my strongest point at the moment. Those corners are part of S1. It’s not any problem to ride from the mental side.
"You need to be against the fear… you don’t need to be scared about the moment, you need to be against it."
Something that’s been well highlighted since his MotoGP return is the higher positioning of his right arm during left corners.
Marquez has been riding with an unusual style, something that is clearly related to the injury as he works to get the arm back to its necessary full strength.
Asked about whether he can or can’t put his arm in the position he wants, Marquez said: "Today I was so concentrated from FP1 to FP2 on how was the evolution of my body.
"In FP1 I felt OK. But Immediately in FP2 I felt something was changing. In FP1 I could ride like I wanted with the elbow and was playing with the body. But in FP2 I go out and feel something like I’m not riding like always.
"It feels like a lack of power on the muscle. Especially the back, the tricep, the shoulder on the back, the lack of power and then the position of the elbow is the same.
"It’s just a matter of time to use the muscle. Today my approach was completely different to Portimao. In Portimao I push all the laps. I was riding good. Today I feel OK, but I was pushing only a few laps. Also don’t push on the new tyre, because you stress more the physical condition.
"This problem with the bike is coming from my position on the bike. But we are working on the bike on other points. It’s not all of the track that I’m riding uncomfortable."
As Marquez highlighted, the strategy was to have an ‘on/off’ approach, while he also had a set amount of laps to push which were spread across three stints. While tomorrow will see a ramped up schedule.
"The plan was to do 5, 5 and 5 laps. I feel not so good so I did 4, 4 and 3. Just the plan and the things we want to try we did," added Marquez.
"Tomorrow is time to do more laps. Today was Friday. Now I feel much better than I did in Portimao on Friday afternoon."
