Marquez rues wrong set-up change before qualifying crash

MotoGP championship leader Marc Marquez believes he could have achieved a stronger result in a wet qualifying session at Silverstone if not for a last-minute change in the set-up.

Marquez kicked off Saturday by topping both third practice in the dry and the wet FP4 immediately prior to qualifying.

However, he was only managed to take fifth on the grid as he missed the final two minutes of Q2 due to a crash at Copse with two minutes left on the clock.

The Spaniard admitted his Repsol Honda team modified the set-up on his bike for qualifying, having not expected as much rain, and it proved to be the wrong move.

"I was very disappointed because in FP4 I felt very good with the bike," said Marquez.

"Then we made a mistake before the start of qualifying because we decided to make a change on the bike because we didn't consider maybe that there will be more water.

"And when I went out in qualifying, I already felt that the changes were not working well, but in 15 minutes you need to stay out and try to improve.

"Then I did a more-or-less fast lap. and when I saw it was already a good laptime I was trying to push and I crashed.

"I was disappointed for this because the set-up, the change was not the [right] way."

"I can fight for victory"

When asked about his chances for the race, Marquez said the main target is a podium finish but also expects a chance for the victory if "everything is there".

"Difficult to say because we don't know the pace of the others, but I believe I can fight for the victory," he said.

"The podium is the main target, but if everything is there, why not the victory?"