Marc Marquez leaves Qatar with a disappointing 11th place finish, a position that reflects a Honda in crisis, despite the eight-time champ doing all he can to keep it afloat.

Over the course of the long race, #93 tried to battle with the fastest Ducatis, including that of Jorge Martin, before giving up and slipping just outside the top ten.

Marc Marquez supports Jorge Martin

In the second half of the race, Marquez found himself fighting with the aforementioned Martin, who in turn was struggling with poor performing Michelin tyres, but he never really made a move on #89. A situation that Marc commented on after the race: “I spent a good part of the race behind Jorge”, he begins. “At first I could see he was pushing hard and we were starting to catch the group but then he began to lose a lot of speed with respect to the other Ducati riders. He was clearly in difficulty, struggling out of the corners. He didn’t have his usual speed. I don’t know what happened but if you’re losing acceleration in certain sections, it means you have no traction”.

Considering the difficulties of the Prima Pramac rider, who is still in the mix for the title despite now lying 21 points from Bagnaia, Marquez didn’t want to attack him. “I didn’t want to fight with him to the end. Why? Simply because it wouldn’t change my life while those points might make a difference to him” clarified the six-time MotoGP champion.

Marquez, last tango with Honda

Michelin was in the line of fire in Qatar, but the future Gresini rider doesn’t want to be drawn into the controversy: “In my opinion the tyres are up to the task, everyone can have problems” comments Marc, who ends by looking ahead to Valencia round, his last in HRC colours. “I’ll have a lot to do, I’ll have to check my schedule because it will be a demanding weekend in many ways. The aim is to finish in the best possible way”.