Reigning MotoGP World Champion Marc Marquez snatched a podium in yesterday’s Assen MotoGP from under the snout of Cal Crutchlow, bagging third by just over a tenth of a second from the Briton but says more improvement is still required.

Marquez had challenged for the win for a majority of the race but a scrap with Andrea Dovizioso and, latterly, Crutchlow added to light rain with eight laps to go, meant he had to concentrate on points rather than the win on a bike that was a little unstable.

“After this difficult first part of the season to be just 11 points behind the third rider is so good and I'm so happy for this because I know that we can improve. We need something more but of course, we will arrive. The last lap was fun with Cal, with [Andrea] Dovizioso, and in the end we will take this 16 points,” said Marquez, speaking at the track.

“I saw on Friday that in dry conditions, Yamaha riders were one step in front of us and we were struggling a lot, especially with the stability of the bike. The Honda was shaking all the time but OK, we were able to be there, to stay in the podium, which was the target, but when there is more rain it was so difficult.

“I had a big moment in the first part of the race and then when there was rain. I started to cool down a little bit and I know also that Danilo [Petrucci] and Valentino were pushing a lot but I was able to be there.

“I’m very happy with the podium and with our race, as we were  competitive enough in the dry at this track, which isn’t one of the best for us. Conditions were quite tricky and in this kind of situation you can lose or gain many points. I went for the ‘safe’ option, more or less.

“Maybe I would have been able to try and fight for the victory, but honestly I had some warnings and thought it too dangerous for the Championship, so I decided to be consistent in the race and to push hard at the end. I paid close attention as it was hard to understand where the limit was, but in the end I was able to manage well.”