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Marquez backed out of slicks gamble due to injury risk

Reigning MotoGP champion Marc Marquez says he backed out of his slick-tyre run in qualifying in Argentina because the risk of injuring himself in a crash was too high.

Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team

Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team

Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team
Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team
Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team
Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team
Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team
Johann Zarco, Monster Yamaha Tech 3
Johann Zarco, Monster Yamaha Tech 3
Andrea Dovizioso, Ducati Team
Andrea Dovizioso, Ducati Team

Marquez switched to a slick-shod bike midway through the Q2 shoot-out at Termas de Rio Hondo, only to immediately return to the pits and head back out on wets again.

The only rider who tried the slicks and stuck with them – Pramac Ducati's Jack Miller – snatched pole at the last second, ending Marquez's streak of four consecutive Argentina poles – with the Honda man himself qualifying only sixth.

But Marquez, second in the standings after the Qatar opener, explained that he felt the slick gamble would not be worth potentially jeopardising his title challenge.

“When I went out from the box, I realised that when I touched a wet part of something it was quite easy to have a crash,” Marquez said.

“After Turn 7, 8, I pass [the wet section] there and my head start to think, ‘tomorrow is the race’.

“Of course pole position is important, [but] tomorrow is the race, and this year I’m trying to avoid the risk, the crashing.

“Of course I take risks, but if you crash in these conditions, normally you are injured because you fly [off the bike] or something else.

“I saw the lap of Jack – he took a lot of risks, he took the pole, but we go in another strategy.”

Marquez was not the only rider to suggest wet tyres were the best choice despite Miller's pole, as both Johann Zarco and Andrea Dovizioso reckoned they couldn't have made the slicks work the way the Aussie did.

Zarco, who qualified third, recalled: “My second bike was ready with slick. I knew Jack is with slick and we were looking with the team at the sector, and [it was] difficult to know if it's much better or not.

“We could not wait a full lap from him to really say the slick is the best one, so when I had to choose, I say I stay with the rain and I'm going to push.

“I think it was a good choice for me – what he did with the slick, I don't think I could do it. For me these corners 7 and 8, they were too much wet. I prefer to choose the rain [tyres].”

Asked whether the track was suitable for slicks, Dovizioso – who will line up eighth on Sunday – said: “For Jack, yes. For me, no. I think the confirmation is what Marc did. It was very on the limit.

“Jack, I think, is already in the Moto3, it showed the feeling with the limit, the feeling with the grip, he's really good. Also, when he was in [Marc VDS] Honda and he wasn't fast, you can see that positive things.

“And in that condition I think he's able to play in that limit, and I believe - I'm not sure, but I believe - he uses a lot the rear brake in his style, and in that condition [it] helps you a lot to try to feel the limit and manage the slick tyres on the wet. But he did a special thing, for sure.”

Additional reporting by Oriol Puigdemont and Federico Faturos

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Edition

Australia