Reigning MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez admits he is “more worried about the bike” than his physical condition ahead of the season following the first test in Malaysia.
Marquez suffered a partial shoulder dislocation in a crash at last year’s Malaysian Grand Prix – which he aggravated further in a fall during the Jerez test in November – and underwent surgery over the winter.
This left him below full physical fitness for the Sepang test, with Marquez admitting after the first day of running that his condition was worse than he expected.
With just three more days of testing left before racing gets underway early next month, Marquez admits areas of the new Honda “have not convinced me”, and is more concerned about his bike being in a competitive state than his body.
“For the first race I am more worried about the bike than about my physical condition, because there are things we have tested that have not convinced me,” Marquez said after Sunday’s running.
“Obviously, the level of [the bikes] is marked by the competition, and in this case it has taken a step forward.”
On Saturday LCR’s Cal Crutchlow admitted the 2020-spec Honda seemed a little worse than last year’s bike in turning.
Marquez tried several things on Sunday to improve his feeling with the front-end, but admits his physical condition was not good enough to offer sufficient feedback as he is “not riding like I want”.
He finished the test 13th overall, though just 0.415 seconds off the pace in a tightly bunched field, and ended Sunday “with a good feeling” having ridden a “very good” rhythm – albeit over short runs.
Marquez did crash for a second time during the test on Sunday, after sliding off at the last corner late in the session.
Normally a crash he says he would have saved, he conceded that he’d “reached the limit” with his body by that point.
“At noon [on Sunday] I was broken,” Marquez added.
“In the afternoon I went out again, but suffered a fall because I already lacked energy.
“I have reached the limit with my body, because in the morning I forced [it] a little more.
“The position of the body [on the bike] is still not what I would like.”