In the last GPs Marc Marquez seemed to have put his head on straight, he was as fast as ever, but he was crashing a lot less. Instead, today, in Assen, he went down twice: at the beginning of FP1 and then at the end of pre-qualifying, when he was about to improve his time. Ducati's Spanish rider appeared before the press a bit branded, with a cut on his chin ("they gave me stitches, but they don't count for the championship," he joked) and with direct entry into Q2 guaranteed by the 6th fastest time of the day.
"They were different crashes, both high-speed but clean - Marc explained the dynamics - I took a few bumps, but nothing serious, I'm here talking about it. The problem is that in this circuit in the run-off areas there is no gravel, there are stones and I took some hard hits. After the second one I struggled more to get up because of the bumps -- in the lower parts. I was out of breath, it's pain that comes with some delay (laughs). I only have some bruises, otherwise I'm fine."
Your rivals, Bagnaia first, say the two crashes won't be a limit for you.
"Clearly when you crash twice you lose some confidence, but I know the reason for both. The first one was caused by the rear tyre not yet in perfect temperature, I was on the third lap and it started behind me. The second one, however, from the fact that I was forced to use a front tyre with many laps, it was the one I had used before I crashed in the morning and it was less performing after being warmed up. It was too used to push like that."
With the points lead you have in the championship, wouldn't it be wise to avoid risks?
"You talk about it and then it happens, I was saying yesterday that there will be a lot of races in a row, you only have to go down and hurt your finger to lose one. You have to take some precautions, but you can't go out for a time attack thinking you don't want to crash. Today I could avoid the crashin the morning, the crash in the afternoon can happen."
What did the doctors tell you about the cubital nerve compression?
"Nothing, just put ice on it. The thing that worried me most was the nerve compression because after the crash my hand was completely asleep, that's why I took off my glove: I didn't understand what was going on, I got scared. Fortunately it was just a blow."
What happened to your chin?
"It was a stone. When they are small they leave more marks, but when they are big like here in Assen they hurt more. I repeat it because it is something they have to replace for next year, especially on a track where you crash at high speed."
It wasn't a dull Friday, so to speak....
"There were a lot of red flags, a lot of crashes, the track was strange, you were struggling to understand where the limit was. You have to know how to adapt, especially on a track where you go so fast."
What is the balance of this day?
"At the moment it's good for being in Assen, I'm in better shape than I hoped. I'm in the top 3 or 4, that was the goal, and if the temperatures rise in the next few days it will be even better. I feel pretty good on the bike, the times are coming even if I'm riding soft."