Marquez admits “everything went wrong” on final test day

The reigning champion suffered a torrid time on Sunday, as he ended up 0.660s off the pace of Maverick Vinales and fell from his Honda multiple times – causing him to abandon a race simulation.

After ending up close to the pace in the previous tests in Sepang and Phillip Island, Marquez said he was “not completely unhappy” with his pace over the longer runs in Qatar, despite the flurry of crashes.

“It was a day where everything went the wrong way,” said Marquez. “When I went out in the morning I had a big scare and I had no brakes, and when I reached the gravel I crashed, but it wasn't important. 

“But at the end of the day I fell before doing the long run, and then during the long run I had to push hard to see where the limit was. I made a mistake, so the final crash was my fault.

“So we can't be happy because it wasn't the best test of the pre-season, but I'm not completely unhappy. Over a single lap you see me 10th, and you think I'm not there, but in terms of race pace we are pretty good.”

New fairing has "positives and negatives"

Marquez’s second crash came while he was trying out a new fairing, which was different to the one he sampled on Friday and which he says was a factor in causing his two crashes that day.

“The intention was to try to improve the speed a little bit,” said Marquez of the new bodywork. “Also trying to improve the wheelie. It was positive in some points, but in another we also had some negatives.”

Asked if he would be more competitive in the Qatar season opener than in the test, Marquez replied: “I don't know. I hope it will be better than this test, for sure.

“I think we are missing some small things that we must manage on the weekend race, but okay. The people just see the crashes, but the rhythm I think we are not so bad.”

Additional reporting by Oriol Puigdemont