Marc Marquez has admitted that he gave away an “easy podium place” because he was “too optimistic” and crashed during the sprint race of the MotoGP Austrian Grand Prix.

On the 10th of 14 laps, Gresini rider Marquez was running second behind race leader Francesco Bagnaia when he slid the front wheel into the uphill Turn 3 and just managed to keep his Ducati from slamming onto the road.

Although the six-time champion was able to get the bike running again, he had to pit at the end of the lap and abandon the race, losing nine crucial points in the battle with the factory Ducati of Enea Bastianini for third place in the overall standings.

Although it was the third time in the last four race weekends that he had crashed in the sprint race, the crash in Spielberg was different because he had the pace to keep up with the faster GP24s of title contenders Bagnaia and Jorge Martin.

When asked about the cause of the accident, the Spaniard replied: “What happened was that I was too optimistic.”

“To be honest, it was an easy podium finish. I drove really well. In the first part of the race I said, ‘Okay, I’ll stay calm.’

“They (Bagnaia and Martin) are half a step ahead of me. Yesterday it was one, today it’s half.

“And in the last few laps I felt something. I thought to myself: ‘Okay, time to attack.’ When there were five laps left and I attacked, I recovered a little bit because I was riding super smooth.

“Then I tried to attack a bit more, but I was too optimistic in Turn 3. On that lap I already drove my fastest Turn 1 of the race and pushed too much. But (I pushed too much) because for a long time I didn’t feel like I could fight for the win (and now I could).

“Of course I think Pecco had something more, but at least we were close to him.”

Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Marquez admitted that his tires locked up in the right-hand bend, forcing him to release the brakes to slow his bike.

However, the motorcycle was actually able to gain speed because its tires were blocked and it remained lying on the ground.

“It is quite difficult to understand the limit of the track, especially when you are driving behind the others, because in the morning with the cooler temperatures, 15 degrees less on the track, the driving style is completely different.

“Today in the race I often blocked the front and it was much more difficult.

“Before the accident, I had actually locked the brakes and let go of them a little. Then when I pulled again, I fell because of the speed. When you are locked, the speed increases.”

Marquez took a conservative approach to the British Grand Prix two weeks ago after suffering a similar crash in the closing stages of the sprint race.

However, the 31-year-old does not believe he has to take it easy this time and believes his fifth Grand Prix podium of the year is possible on Sunday.

“The Silverstone accident makes me feel much worse than today,” he said. “Today I feel like I don’t like crashing, but at least I was there (on the pace). I was fighting for the top positions.”

“But it’s true that if we’re smart, we can get third place tomorrow in a good mode. But then we’ll see how it looks during the race when we’re at full throttle, you don’t know.”