Marc Marquez has provided something of an explanation as to why his brother Alex clattered into Jack Miller in the Australian MotoGP race.
Alex Marquez arrived at Miller Corner out of control on Lap 9 and took out the #43 Ducati Lenovo Team entry from two bikes back in spectacular fashion.
Both he and Marc ride Hondas, with the older of the Marquez brothers going on to finish second at Phillip Island and hence take his 100th MotoGP podium.
The Turn 4 hairpin where the incident occurred is a key overtaking location at the circuit, but one where the six-time premier class champion admitted that he struggled given the deficiencies of the RC213V.
Speaking post-race, he noted that the Honda’s weakness under brakes hampered him in trying to pass eventual winner Alex Rins (Suzuki) on the final lap, and cited it as a contributing factor to the #73-#43 collision just shy of a third of the way into the contest.
“I knew that in Turn 2 [Southern Loop], it was not possible to overtake Alex because I overtook him many times on that corner and then I know that he will defend really good,” said Marc Marquez.
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“When I saw that Pecco [Francesco Bagnaia, who finished third on a Ducati] was there, he didn’t expect, so I go.
“One of the problems of our bike is stopping in a straight line and Turn 4, if you are not super clear, the problem is that when we have some shaking – like, for example, the mistake of my brother today – when you have some shaking with this Honda, then you cannot stop.
“You cannot absorb the problem in the middle and it’s too risky, and then I say, ‘Okay, I will try from Turn 11 to Turn 12,’ but he did well, had good acceleration, and it was a fun race.”
Alex Marquez was seen presumably apologising to Miller in the Ducati garage during the race, and later took to social media to express his remorse.
“I want to apologise to Jack and all his team again,” wrote the LCR rider on Twitter.
“I made a mistake and I couldn’t do anything to avoid the crash.”
Miller was not seriously injured in the wild crash, although he did note that his “balls … copped a bit of a hiding”, while Alex Marquez will have to serve a long lap penalty in this coming weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix as punishment for what stewards decided was “overly aggressive” riding in causing the crash.
Practice at Sepang starts on Friday.
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