Marc Marquez: Middle finger down to “adrenaline”| “Only Zarco could avoid clash”

The onboard camera showed Marquez’s react to the Waterfall scare, a turn that had already claimed fellow Honda rider Takaaki Nakagami, by waving his middle finger - presumably at the bike for trying to launch him into orbit (see video below).

“The camera recorded well!” he joked. “It [middle finger] was about the situation. The adrenaline was super high. I saved a crash in a very fast corner.

“Then as you imagine the adrenaline was very, very high and the reaction of the body was that [middle finger] because I had many, many warnings already this weekend.

“So we need to understand how to ride smoother or just a bit slower and we will not have the moments.”

Marquez: "If somebody can avoid that situation it was Johann, not me"

The second incident was much scarier, Marquez losing the front as he tipped into turn one, sending his Repsol Honda sliding down the track on its side.

The RCV then slammed into the side of Johann Zarco, who was rejoining the track from pit lane. The Frenchman’s Pramac Ducati was destroyed in the incident, but the impact fortunately missed his legs and he was eventually able to walk away.

Marquez insisted that only Zarco could have avoided the incident.

“I'm a guy that if I do mistake, I say this is my mistake, but this time I'm angry because if somebody can avoid the situation it was Johann,” Marquez said.

“I mean, the guy that is coming out of the pit lane is the guy that needs to watch behind and if somebody is coming, especially in the last minute [of a session], you need to stop in the pit exit.

“There’s no meaning to stay out of the line because as we see in that corner in the past and even this morning, with Aleix Espargaro and Quartararo, it's so easy to lock the front and crash there. Even more so when you are pushing in the end of the practice.

“We were super lucky that we escape, both of us, from that crash. But yeah, I already heard that some people [said] ‘Marc is dangerous’. I mean, if somebody can avoid that situation it was Johann, not me.

“I was pushing for a whole lap. Yeah, sorry guys, I crashed. But I don't want to crash, like many riders today. Nobody wants to crash. But yeah, I already visit Zarco and he's OK. So we were super lucky.”

Asked if the pit lane exit needs to be redesigned, the eight-time world champion responded:

“It’s like we saw in the past in Aragon with Pol Espargaro and Petrucci. But the pit exit is OK. The only thing is that you have enough space to watch behind and you have enough visibility to see if riders are coming.

“In the last minutes, everybody's pushing in the limit. And it’s a corner that is easy to crash. So yeah, the pit exit is OK. The only problem is that the guy that is going out needs to pay more attention.”

Zarco vigorously denied that he was to blame: "He should think twice before speaking. Just to have the idea that this is my fault is not acceptable."

Update: A notification from Race Direction sent to all riders on Saturday morning made clear it is the responsibility of riders leaving pit lane to 'make a safe pit exit' adding that the blue flag 'waved for the rider in pit lane to indicate there are riders approaching' turn 1 on track 'must be respected'.

All of which left Marquez – second fastest to Zarco in morning practice, when he also saved a scare - just 14th fastest in the afternoon. The Spaniard must now take part in Qualifying 1 tomorrow, at a track where he has never been beaten as a MotoGP rider.

“As you see this morning it’s a circuit that I like and straight away when I go out, I was in the limit,” he said. “But then you reach that limit and you stay there, so you cannot do anything.”

Marquez was again using the Kalex chassis on both his machines, after suggesting in Mugello that he wanted to re-try the Honda design.

“With this new schedule, it's impossible to make back-to-back [tests]. But maybe for tomorrow, we need to make a radical decision and change a bit. We need to check everything.

“Also today, Nakagami tried that new chassis. Unfortunately, he crashed with that chassis. And I crash also with that [Kalex] chassis. So we will have less pieces. But anyway we are we are working, we need to keep working and improve the situation.”

Marquez, who missed last year's German Grand Prix due to injury, has been winless for almost 600 days, dating back to Misano 2021. He and Nakagami are the only Honda riders on track this weekend, with both Joan Mir and Alex Rins injured at Mugello.