Alex Marquez: Losing Silverstone MotoGP Podium to 'Unacceptable' Error 'Painful'

Alex Marquez admitted it was "painful" to lose a podium at the 2024 Silverstone MotoGP race due to an error he described as "unacceptable". The Gresini Racing rider started seventh and made early progress, catching Marco Bezzecchi for fourth around half-distance.

The crucial moment came when Alex Marquez overtook Bezzecchi at Turn 15, but then overshot Turn 1 moments later as he lost the rear on entry. That mistake dropped him to fifth before he recovered to fourth, but he was never able to reclaim third from Bezzecchi.

"Yes, because when you lose a podium for a stupid mistake – because it was quite unacceptable from my part, because in that moment I just missed a little bit the brake point – when you have more potential and you see that the podium was realistic, it's painful," Marquez said after the race.

Baca JugaAlex Marquez Sesali Kesalahan Bodoh yang Menggagalkan Podium di Silverstone

Marquez believed he could have finished second without the error. "I think that our chances today were for second position," the Spaniard said. "But that mistake on turn one when I overtook Marco [Bezzecchi], in that moment I was too optimistic and I braked a little bit later, I moved with the front brake and then I lost the rear contact. That cost us the podium today."

Despite the disappointment, Marquez took positives from his performance. "But anyway I think we did a really solid race, we were fast until the end, trying until the end, that was the main thing. I think Marco played really good his cards and he saved something for the last two laps, and he was just faster than us in that point, saving a lot of rear tyre."

Marquez added that the Turn 1 moment was where he first felt the rear grip starting to fade. "In that point when I did the mistake in turn one is where I felt the first drop of the rear tyre," he explained. "But in that moment I had some movement, but I said 'Okay, keep calm and keep going because you are faster than Pedro [Acosta]', and I was able to go a little bit faster. When I overtook him, I catch again – when you have many bikes in front of you with these big wings that we have, the bike sometimes is doing strange things, so when you are alone everything is more stable. But in that point you know, I felt the drop and then to the end the last drop as yesterday on the sprint."