Marc Márquez finished seventh in the MotoGP Dutch Grand Prix. He was pleased to have escaped without injuries.
What happened?
The factory Ducati rider came into the Dutch Grand Prix branding it a weekend of survival.
The fast right-handed layout did not suit his current physical condition.
He finished seventh in the sprint and sixth in the grand prix, though he was docked a place for exceeding track limits on the final lap.
Why it matters for Marc Márquez
With Marco Bezzecchi crashing out and Jorge Martin only finishing third, Marc Márquez remains just 40 points off of the championship lead.
Marc Márquez was one of a handful of riders to run the soft rear tyre.
He says this was because he wasn’t physically capable of pushing on the medium.
What comes next?
Marc Márquez said: “I go out on the race, and I knew that my place was to finish sixth, seventh, eighth.”
And he added: “The good thing is that we escaped from Holland without injuries, so this was my main target.”
Marc Márquez was forced to run through the final chicane after Fabio Di Giannantonio put an aggressive overtake on him.
The stewards gave Di Giannantonio a long lap penalty for shortcutting the chicane.
Marc Márquez commented on the moment, saying: “Well, in the end it was a race incident.”
He also said: “At least in 2015, I did the chicane.”
On the championship picture, Marc Márquez said: “I mean, I feel like I'm not the strongest one, and I'm not the fastest one.”
But he remains in the fight, with 63 points covering the top eight.
Marc Márquez said: “So at the moment, it's five names in the championship that are fighting every race there.”