Mark Marquez suffered from his fourth crash of the 2025 MotoGP season.
The title leader questioned the pre-event prediction that Silverstone would be a difficult circuit for his riding style by leading the FP1.
However, the afternoon time when Marquez struggled with the fall of the frontend in turn 3 was actually a tougher contest for the factory Ducati stars.
“I closed the gas later. I put the brakes on afterwards. I’m faster, more banking… Results: Limitations!” explained Mark. “It’s just too late.”
If the cause of the fall was not a mystery, Marquez admitted that it was probably not wise to cling to the GP25 as long as it was on track.
“That’s my instinct. I was going back to the garage and thinking more about continuing with the same tires than with the crash,” he explained.
“I was thinking more about saving the bike.
“But as I passed by the grass, I smashed my hand a bit, so it’s true that it’s tricky.
“Looking at it now, I say ‘I just give up’ (and let the bike go), but my instinct meant having one! ”
Marquez was temporarily pushed out of the top 10, easily earning direct qualifying 2 access in fourth place (+0.360 seconds).
Meanwhile, his brother Alex exploited the speed of the excellent corner at the top of Gresini’s timesheet, with Fabio Cartararo and Jacques Miller separating the Marquez brothers.
“I’m struggling more here than Qatar,” admitted Mark. He also appeared in a perfect double victory from Lucail despite flagging that track as one of his weakest.
“I work on my riding style, but I’m not as far as I’ve lost as I did in the past, so I’m closer to the top guy.
“It’s like last year, and while it’s true that used tires felt better than new ones, time attacks were also one of my strengths in the first race.”
The eight-time world champion, who agreed to be the rider Alex lost this weekend, could still face his toughest fight to extend the perfect run of the sprint victory to 7.
“The only place Alex was incredibly fast in the right corner compared to the other Ducatis where Alex is turn 8,” he revealed. “But we know Alex. Here, Catalonia and Malaysia, all those long horns, he is very fast and historically this is one of his best tracks.
“From FP1 to practice, I’ve already reduced a bit (turn 8 gap) but he’s got the others. In the end there’s up and down. I’ve got a lot in some corners. He’s got a lot in other corners.
“Of course he addresses his weaknesses, I work on mine. But it’s like he’s faster, his left corner faster, I’m a faster trend.
“Let’s see what we can do for tomorrow.”
Marquez lost the time to start his valuable practice when he suffered from technical issues at the end of the morning session.
“The sensor detected some errors and I got a message saying that it would shut down the engine,” he said.
“Of course, starting practice is becoming more and more important, especially with the rear device on the front device, it is difficult to release it at the first corner here.
“It’s not like Le Mans, but it’s difficult. But it’s like this, so I can’t think about it.”
Instead, he calls the same kind of instinct to put his hands at risk in the afternoon fall.
“I will first try to follow my instincts tomorrow.”
Mark will start this Saturday’s sprint with a 22-point lead over Alex.
Factory teammate Francesco Bagnaia was seventh on the first day at Silverstone.