Marc Marquez chose not to risk in Jerez after thinking about his worst day

Marc Marquez’s career-threatening 2020 Jerez crash was on his mind during a determined yet measured comeback in Sunday’s Spanish MotoGP, which ended with a 12th-place finish after an early fall.

The Sprint winner had been in the thick of the action during a frenetic opening three laps, battling with poleman Fabio Quartararo and Ducati team-mate Francesco Bagnaia, before crashing out of third place.

Remounting in 22nd, Marquez soon began scything back through the field, often setting lap times faster than the leaders despite visible damage to his GP25.

But with a three-second gap looming ahead between Johann Zarco and Alex Rins, the six-time premier class champion decided to hold back.

“Yes,” Marquez said when asked if 2020 had influenced his thinking. 

“I saw that I had another big group in sight, after Rins, but I thought about 2020 and I said, ‘I will not exaggerate. I will not crash again.’”

It was a reference to his infamous right arm injury at the same venue, when a stunning charge from 16th to 3rd ended in disaster after a highside at Turn 3.

That incident, and the premature return attempt a week later, kicked off a long and painful recovery involving multiple surgeries.

Sunday’s incident was Marquez’s second crash in a grand prix this season, but he insisted he isn’t overriding the bike, nor blaming front tyre pressure.

“I’m not going ‘All In’,” Marquez said.

“And it was only the third lap. Too early to have a tyre pressure issue,” he added.

Shortly before, Marquez and team-mate Bagnaia had banged shoulders over second place - through the same stadium section when they fought furiously for victory in 2024.

Marquez said the incident wasn’t aggressive but did shift his mindset.

“I went out from turn 10, I had some wheelie and I didn’t think he will be [there] – I was more thinking about closing the door on Turn 11. But then he was already alongside and we had that small contact. Then I said ‘OK, now it's time to breathe and keep calm’.”

Despite the setback, there was still Marquez family glory in Jerez, with younger brother Alex taking his maiden MotoGP victory - an achievement that also put him back on top of the championship standings.

“It’s the only thing that gave me a smile, that victory from Alex. He did an amazing race, but he's doing an amazing season,” said Marc. “I’m super proud of my brother and again he's leading the championship. So he deserves it.”

Marc heads to Le Mans next weekend trailing his brother by just a single point in the standings.