IN
THE
WIND
P40
MARQUEZ' WOES CONTINUE
M
arc Marquez's astonishingly
rapid trip from domination
took at least two more steps
into the darkness at Mugello,
after he revealed more about the
nature of his Honda's problems
that had condemned him to a
hard-fought fourth at Le Mans.
There, Marquez had said, "I
am fighting the bike more than
my rivals." On arrival in Italy he
declined to blame his new chas-
sis and swingarm; saying that
(unlike other Honda riders) he
planned to stick with the chang-
es because he believed in them.
"We are trying to fix the
engine," he said. "It is too ag-
gressive, on entry and exit of
the corners. This is where I am
suffering."
Given rules freezing develop-
ment for Factory Option ma-
chines that's going to be a bit
tricky.
"The engine we cannot
touch," he said. "But we can
use electronics."
Marquez hoped, somewhat
in vain, that the long and fast
Mugello would be less difficult
than poky little Le Mans, where
with the short gearbox dictated
by the low average speed, "the
bike would wheelie all the time.
Here the gearing is longer."
But the following days would
prove that he and Honda are still
far from a solution. Although with
the leaders on Friday, when the
pace heated up on Saturday for
the first time, he missed the top
10, obliging him to run through
Q1 with the lesser lights. He
needed to be first or second to
join the fast dozen in Q2.
It got worse. He had set sec-
ond time (behind Aleix Esparga-
ro), and was waiting powerless
in his pit as Yonny Hernandez
put in a late flier on the Pramac
Ducati to consign him to 13th on
the grid.
He blazed through to second
within three laps, but crashed out
trying to hold on to the position.
Midnight oil will be burning at
HRC, with time running out for a
third straight title win.
Michael Scott
Marc Marquez says he's
still fighting the bike.
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
GOLD
&
GOOSE
