MotoGP Austin: ‘I was destroyed, I push everything’ - Marquez

Marc Marquez was the comeback kid once again at COTA after the Repsol Honda rider salvaged sixth place from the back of the grid.

Having already overcome the odds to even line up in Texas after his Indonesia injury and returning diplopia condition, Marquez didn’t get the best of starts in the AmericasGP after a technical issue on the grid saw his RC213V seemingly at a standstill as the pack swept by.

The dramatic start made for an even more dramatic race as the eight-time champion began to work his way back up the standings at an impressive rate before determined late-race tussles with Monster Energy Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo saw his progress stall just shy of the top five.

“Disappointed of course, because the speed was there,” Marquez said of his Sunday showing stateside.

“I enjoyed a lot on the race, starting from the back but okay, 25 points today was possible.

We had a technical problem on the start.,” he continued. “Already some message on the screen before and then I start and since first corner was like, was not the pit-limiter in, but was like something happened on the bike. But then when disengage everything, the holeshot device and everything, the bike start to work in a good way. So from that point I was last, even far from the last guy and I started to recover many positions. I did a few mistakes but is normal overtaking many riders, and we finish sixth. So yeah, the speed was there. Confidence. I go out from here with a higher confidence so this is the most important.”

While the progress was impressive, the saves were likewise.

“The thing is that when you overtake riders here is very difficult,” Marquez explained. “Especially in the first laps because with the slipstream is so difficult stop the bike and in