Marc Marquez feels that being able to fight up front “with less risk” will be the key to securing MotoGP rostrum results in upcoming races having crashed at Le Mans.
The Honda rider made a battling return to premier class competition at the French GP having been absent since the season-opening Portuguese Grand Prix weekend while he recovered from a fractured hand, Marquez qualifying a close second to Francesco Bagnaia before grabbing fifth in the sprint race.
The six-time premier class world champion then fought firmly in the front group for the entirety of Sunday’s full-length encounter, Marquez doing to his best to fend off Pramac Ducati’s Jorge Martin for second in the closing stages before tucking the front of his RC213-V at Turn 5 with just over a lap remaining.
While affirming that he “enjoyed a lot” the race, Marquez conceded the importance of being able to further improve Honda’s machine so that he is able to fight “in those situations with less risk” as he feels he currently doesn’t have “the tools” to fight for consistent rostrum results.
“I enjoyed a lot the race, it was one of my best races since a while ago even though I crashed in the end,” explained Marquez.
“I felt I was riding well and the bike felt good, we were losing (time) on the straight with top speed, acceleration and traction but I was riding well which is very important.
“It was a shame that in the end that with all that work we didn’t receive a result, but I think we showed everyone that we are there and now we have to keep working and be a bit better in Mugello.
“I’m happy with myself and it’s true that I would have liked to finish the race, but with the tools we have its difficult at the moment to fight for the front positions.
“I saw that I could do it but not in the best way, we need to be able to fight in those situations with less risk and we need to keep working to improve this.”
