After his win at the Sachsenring before the summer break, many expected to see a different Marc Marquez moving forward, less in difficulty than he was during the early rounds. And yet, the eight-time champion continues to struggle, his physical fitness less than ideal, without forgetting the technical difficulties that Honda is facing this season.

"He’s realised he can’t beat Quartararo and Mir as and when he wants"

As if this weren’t enough, #93 is now dealing with the latest debate about his riding, the issue raised this time by Aleix Espargaró. “He makes moves that are on the limit, but the problem is the Stewards. No one is happy with the way they work. If there’s a crash, then there’s a penalty, if there’s no crash, like today and we were lucky there wasn’t, then no penalty”, commented the Aprilia rider after the Styria GP, in reference to an episode that saw Marc come up hard on the inside of #41 but with no sanction made by Race Direction.

Italian manager Carlo Pernat agrees with Espargaró and believes that Dorna should have intervened. “After his accident, Marquez is going through the toughest time of his career and is also dangerous. Dorna should interview, if they don’t penalise him, he’ll carry on racing like this”, he comments while talking to Tuttosport.

Marquez is up against rivals who are as young and aggressive as he is, which puts him in a difficult situation in the top class: “He’s realised that he’s going to be 'less' Marquez than he was before. He knows that if he crashes, he’ll break, maybe everything”, continues Pernat. “He’s also realised that he can’t beat Quartararo and Mir as and when he wants. But beyond the physical difficulties, he also needs to deal with the psychological impact of the situation, as a rider who was used to dominating the category”, he concludes.

Translated by Heather Watson

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