Marquez notes that the “Bastianini touch” led to him being sanctioned

This Sunday in Assen, Marc Marquez received his first long-race penalty of the season, and we have already had eight Grands Prix due to the minimum tyre pressure rule. In the Jerez sprint, there have been five riders who broke the rule, but this has never happened before, nor has it happened since.

Márquez delayed his appearance in front of the media, and both his behavior during the race and at the end of it began to raise suspicions of a possible penalty for tire pressure, which is known to maintain a minimum average value for more than half of the scheduled laps.

The first alarm sounded when, during the race, Marc, leading the chasing group, passed Fabio Di Giannantonio, a clear sign that he was controlling the pressure.

Finally, when the man from Gresini returned to the pits, he threw a glove, something unusual, on the shelf where he keeps his helmets to meet the Michelin member, confirming that there are concerns about sanctions.

“I skipped Digia to control the pressure, which was very low,” admitted Mark late in the evening in Assen.

“I had everything under control until I made contact with Enea Bastianini. That put me out of action and when I came back it took me two laps to recover and calm down and during those two laps the pressure dropped. I can control everything except the contact with the other driver,” he lamented.

Marquez explained that in this race he needed to stay under pressure for 15 laps, but he only lasted 14.

“0.01 per lap. It’s a shame, but rules are rules. The only thing I discussed with them was the issue of touching Aeneas, which allowed him to get out of the pressure for another lap.”

Marquez made no excuses and admitted that it was a mistake.

“It was a mistake, but it was a team mistake. Sometimes I fail, sometimes others fail,” he said.

Marc was very upset by Bastianini’s maneuver as it literally threw him off the track by overtaking him, causing the whole pressure problem.

“I was hoping he would get a chance to get even. But he doesn’t get away with the penalty and I do,” he said.

And he stuck to his guns. “The discussion with Race Management was that they had the data and could clearly see that the low pressure was due to contact with Aenea. They told me that this could be taken into account for the future, but for now the rules are the rules.”

Regarding the race, Mark wanted to highlight that “third place was back within six seconds” to seal the gap between Bagnaia, Martin and the rest.

Ahead of next weekend’s German Grand Prix on the left-hand circuit where Marquez has dominated for a decade with an iron fist, he doesn’t want to get his hopes up.

“If the weekend is perfect, at Sachsenring I will be at the same level as Martin and Pecco, but not better than them, because I can already see that,” concluded the Catalan.

Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing

Photo: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images