Marc Marquez's chances of finishing in the top three of the 2024 MotoGP riders' standings took another hit in the Red Bull Ring sprint - as he crashed out while riding a clear second.
But the crash, even though it marked Marquez's third exit in the last four sprints, did not dampen the Spaniard's spirits all that much - as he put it down to simple over-eagerness.
"I was too optimistic," he admitted. "You know, honestly speaking, it was an easy podium, I was riding super good."
😱 💥 @marcmarquez93 HAS GONE DOWN!
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) August 17, 2024
The Spaniard has dropped from 2nd to the back of the field 📉#AustrianGP 🇦🇹 pic.twitter.com/vmWa9slwgp
Marquez ran third in the opening stages, not able to keep pace with the leading duo of Pecco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin but well clear of Aleix Espargaro's Aprilia behind him.
But soon after Martin's long-lap penalty for cutting the Turn 2 chicane dropped him to third, Marquez smelled an outside shot at victory.
He took three tenths out of Bagnaia on the ninth lap and did his personal-best first sector on lap 10, before hitting the deck at Turn 3.
"In the first part of the race I said 'okay, I will be calm', they [Bagnaia and Martin] were going [away].
"They have half a step more than me - yesterday was one [step], today half. And that last lap I felt something.
"I felt 'okay, time to attack'. I attacked and there I recovered something because I was riding super smooth, then I tried to attack a bit more.
"But yeah. I was too optimistic in Turn 3. I pushed too much.
"But it was because it's been a long time that I hadn't felt that I was able to fight for the victory. Of course I think Pecco had something more, but at least we were close."
Marquez said he locked the front on the initial touch of the brake coming into Turn 3, then released the brake and crashed when he tried to brake again, having failed to scrub off enough speed.
He said it would make him "more conservative" on Sunday, but also said that his sprint crash last time out at Silverstone "made me feel much worse" than this one.
"Today - okay, I don't like to crash, but at least I was there. I was fighting for those top positions. But it's true that tomorrow if we are smart, we can have that third place. But let's see."
Asked by The Race whether his crash suggested he was prioritising getting an individual race win under his belt over championship position - given Enea Bastianini is now breaking away in the fight for third - Marquez laughed: "It was a sprint race, it didn't count!
"But no, I mean, when you go 1000 days before victory - doesn't matter if it's 1000, 1100 or 1200. So... let's see. But the most important is that we're getting closer and closer.
"Two-three races ago I said 'I feel uncomfortable, and we have margin'. This race I felt I was riding in a very good way - even like this, they are half a step in front of us."
That "half a step" was coming on the straight, through a combination of the 2024 Ducatis' superior acceleration out of the corner (thanks to a better ride height device) and extra top speed - although Marquez also emphasised that his 2023 bike was "working super good" and that he was "happy" with it.
