In the 2023 MotoGP season, two of 21 race weekends have been completed. Most of the headlines, however, belong to someone who only took part in one of the two weekends due to injury: Marc Marquez. The serious crash of the Honda star in Portimao, in which he was injured as well as Miguel Oliveira, is still the big issue.
One who knows Marquez very well is Stefan Bradl, who has been the official test and reserve driver in Honda’s HRC racing department for years. How does he assess the accident at the MotoGP season opener in Portimao? “It was a rare driving error by Marc Marquez, which he had to pay dearly for,” Bradl says on “ServusTV” on the show “Sport and Talk from Hangar-7”.
The crash with Oliveira, which also involved Jorge Martin, happened to Marquez in Sunday’s Grand Prix. The day before, the Honda star had finished third in the first edition of the new Sprint for the year. And that after he surprisingly finished on pole in qualifying. Surprising because you wouldn’t have expected that from a pilot on the current Honda RC213V.
“I know the bike very well,” remarks Bradl in his role as test driver and praises Marquez for his performance on Saturday: “What he did there is incredibly valuable. It’s impossible for me.” Incidentally, Marquez improved the official MotoGP track record in Portimao by a whopping 1.5 seconds with his pole lap.
MotoGP: Marc Marquez “just sometimes wants a tick too much”
“He did that and then of course he was motivated, thought, okay, maybe I can run over the bike a bit,” Bradl draws the line to Sunday’s race and the crash: “I think he’s a little bit overestimated. He wanted too much. That’s the typical Marc Marquez problem he has.”
According to Bradl, Marquez “just sometimes wants a tad too much” and according to Bradl, Marquez is “a tad too impatient with his experience too.”
And the German is even more explicit, saying: “He also mentioned that in his documentary, he is and will remain the way he is. And sorry for the expression, but he’s just an asshole on the bike too. “
MotoGP field against Marc Marquez?
With actions like that on March 26th in Portimao, Marquez doesn’t exactly make new friends with his fellow MotoGP drivers. When asked if it would gnaw at the eight-time motorcycle world champion or just bounce off when he seemed to have the whole field against him, Bradl replies: “It’s such a mixture.”
According to Bradl, Marquez’ apology to Oliveira’s team and its fans “came from the heart. He cleared the Portuguese Oliveira in Portugal. That’s a hero there. And that was the worst case, I would say. That was a sincere apology , clearly”.
“But,” Bradl continued, “he’s either great or he’s organizing something. That’s always so typical of Marc Marquez. And of course the opponents have a certain, I don’t want to say, fear. But you have to be a little extra careful him”.
