Explained: Cause of smoke from Marc Marquez’s bike after ‘what went wrong?’ query
Reason given for the smoke emerging from Marc Marquez's Ducati
Marc Marquez’s crew chief has explained the reason for the smoke billowing from his Ducati at the Italian MotoGP.
Gresini’s Marquez missed out on the podium on Sunday at Mugello after a brilliant ride by Enea Bastianini.
Bastianini passed Marquez and Jorge Martin to go from P4 to P2, behind winner Pecco Bagnaia.
Frankie Carchedi, the crew chief to Marquez, was asked by TNT Sports ‘what went wrong?’
Carchedi replied: “Our strong point was always out of the last corner.
“Even with the run-up, I’ve seen a load of things. There was a bit of smoke.
“Marc changed his line, so he went over a really big bump to try and exit as quickly as possible.
“Which is where that smoke [came from]. It was nothing else.
“Just to try and get a run-up. Unfortunately he couldn’t quite get past Enea.
“The front tyre… temperatures were super, super, super high.”
Carchedi summarised Marquez’s Mugello round: “Mixed. He got good points.
“Overall, we gained on the lead at a track which isn’t one of his top ones.
“He was just happy to be competitive all weekend.”
Sylvain Guintoli described Marquez’s weekend: “Good, strong. But not quite good enough.”
Marquez is third in the MotoGP standings, 35 points behind the leader Martin.
Bastianini shines despite 'horrible feeling'
Bastianini stole the show with a ride from fourth to second at Mugello.
He brilliantly overtook Marquez in the closing stages.
Neil Hodgson analysed on TNT Sports: “It was just grip. He has this ability when the tyres are warm. He uses his body a lot.
“What about that for a pass, about as good as you get.
“You pass the most aggressive rider and you don’t give him a millimetre, but it was clean.
“He held the eight-time world champion out there. Marc couldn’t turn, it pushed him wide, that gave Enea a chance.
“He crossed the line only 0.7s behind the winner.”
Bastianini hadn’t always had the best of luck at his home race.
He returned this year likely to lose his 2025 Ducati ride to either Martin or Marquez.
But he outshone both of his rivals on-track when it mattered.
Hodgson said: “Sometimes you come to your home race, with extra pressure, you try 1% more…
“I am happy for him. He has had a lot of pressure on him.
“It’s a horrible feeling when everyone isn’t even putting your name in the hat to secure your ride for next year.”
James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
