Marquez: 'In my opinion, I didn’t make a mistake', calls crash 'really strange'

A tough Qatar MotoGP came to an early end for Alex Marquez following a crash at turn one, however, the Spaniard felt he did nothing wrong. 

Marquez, who had already crashed three times before Sunday's race, went down one lap after seeing smoke from KTM rider Miguel Oliveira’s bike - Oliveira also crashed out. 

It was far from the start to 2022 that Marquez wanted or needed, as this season is likely to prove very important as to whether he remains a MotoGP rider in 2023. 

While it’s clear that results need to improve over what he managed last season and so far this, the 2019 Moto2 champion is not taking full responsibility for Sunday’s mistake, instead saying 'we need to analyse what happened'.

Marquez added: "The objective today was just to finish the race; after the difficult time we had in qualifying, it was important to finish and build up a base. We made a change today from qualifying and the feeling was great. 

"I made a really good start and was able to move up into 11th or 12th on the first lap and I was going well and being realistic with my pace. But then I had a really strange crash at the first corner, after the straight, I suddenly locked the front. 

"We need to analyse what happened exactly but, in my opinion, I didn’t make a mistake. 

"I saw some smoke coming out of Oliveira’s bike the lap before my crash, but I’m not really sure what happened. 

"I want to say sorry to my team, I gave my best, but as I said, my objective was to finish the race and we didn’t achieve it. I’m happy about how Sunday went until the crash, especially how the feeling (with the bike) came back. 

"Our eyes are on Mandalika now to have a good weekend there."

While Marquez was the lone Honda rider not to finish, team-mate Takaaki Nakagami, who also needs a big year if he’s to remain a MotoGP rider next season, finished tenth for LCR. 

"I started from P16 and I made an amazing start. By turn 1 I was in a good position," said Nakagami. 

"Then in sector 1 and sector 2, I just lost my line a little and lost positions, but the beginning of the race was good. 

"During the race, I saw a couple of riders crash in front of me, so I just tried to stay calm and make sure I finished the race. 

"We had good pace, the same as in FP4. I’m quite pleased, it was a little bit difficult on Friday and Saturday, but on Sunday we finished in the top 10 and I’m happy to see the team smiling. 

"I want to thank all of them. We’ll work really hard to improve our potential in Indonesia."