Photography by Gold & Goose
As he crashed Marc Marquez instinctively protected his left hand. Less than a week removed from surgery on his left pinky finger where a titanium plate was inserted, Marquez found himself Saturday at Jerez on the ground sliding and heading rapidly toward a gravel trap. The defending MotoGP champ quickly cupped his left hand inside his right and pulled his hand up close next to his shoulder to try to protect it.
Marquez said he has been riding in pain this weekend in Jerez after having surgery performed on the little finger of his left hand last Saturday after suffering a flat track training crash. Marquez was almost certainly warned about not bending that plate in his finger, so he was protecting it the best he could after his FP4 crash.
Fortunately the fall was a lower-speed lowside and Marquez slid harmlessly on his butt into a gravel trap and his hand never hit the ground.
Marquez dusted himself off after the crash and a little later went out and qualified second to Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo for Sunday’s Grand Prix of Spain.
Marquez said he qualified Saturday without taking painkillers, but admitted he would take some Sunday before the 27-lap final.
“I was trying to be on the front row,” Marquez said after qualifying at Jerez. “We knew that the best strategy was to use three new rear tires, but after the crash in FP4 I say OK I will not take the risk. I prefer to be 100 percent tomorrow.
“We will see, the race is long. The important thing today is I ride without painkiller. Tomorrow I will take painkillers. This can help me, but of course the laps will be long, especially since Jorge is very strong, but I think we can fight for the podium.”
