Marc Marquez “something was wrong” | “Worst weekend on a Ducati”
“You know when Marc is having a bad weekend because he rides it like a Honda"
Marc Marquez endured a disappointing British MotoGP which was described as his worst round of the season.
The Gresini rider finished fourth in Sunday’s grand prix, 24 hours after crashing out from fourth-place in the sprint race.
He has conceded third-place in the MotoGP standings to Enea Bastianini, who sensationally won the sprint and the grand prix.
“It’s the worst weekend that we’ve seen him on the Ducati,” TNT Sports’ Neil Hodgson said about Marquez.
“Inconsistent through practice, mistakes, crashes. Crashed out of the sprint race.
“He never looked comfortable at any point.
“There were flashes of the old Marquez, trying to make his time up on the braking. He missed the apexes.
“We saw a few aerial views where you could see the exits. He’d gain on entry, gain two bike lengths on the way in, but lose five on the way out.
“You know when Marc is having a bad weekend because he rides it like a Honda, and it doesn’t work.”
Marquez was fifth for much of Sunday’s race before overtaking Aleix Espargaro in the latter stages.
He was closing in on Pecco Bagnaia, who completed the podium, but ran out of time.
Marquez details Espargaro battle
Marquez told TNT Sports: “This weekend, honestly, we worked super hard with the team and they did an amazing job.
“We started with our base but, for some reason, and we need to understand why, we were super far at this track.
“Step by step, I felt better. And they gave to me what I needed. They understood in a perfect way.
“That meant that, in the race, we were closer to the top guys especially in the first 10 laps.
“When the tyres dropped - especially Bastianini and Jorge Martin - they were super fast. But Pecco wasn’t far.
“I’m happy with fourth but unfortunately, yesterday, we missed another fourth place in the sprint race. But okay. We need to keep going.”
Marquez was asked if a long-running scrap with Espargaro, which he eventually won, cost him the chance to challenge the podium trio.
“From the beginning, I understood that something was wrong in acceleration,” he said.
“We had a small problem there. But we’ve already understood why.
“But yes, I was struggling on acceleration and I arrived too late on the brakes.
“For that reason, I overtook [Espargaro] on Corner 3,4. There, you don’t need acceleration.
“Apart from that, the fourth place was a good result.”
Marquez asseses his half-season
The MotoGP season is now at its half-way stage, with 10 rounds gone and another 10 to come.
Marquez is yet to win a sprint or a grand prix on his new machine.
He has slipped to fourth in the standings, 62 points away from championship leader Martin.
He is, however, always the fastest rider on the year-old Ducati and often mixing with the factory bike.
Marquez assessed his own half-a-season: “Not bad, not bad. Some mistakes.
“Some which are normal with a new bike, and some which I should have avoided, like yesterday’s. But we are human.
“I am enjoying it with this bike. We’re always in the top five positions.
“We are always the top GP23 bike, and we are close to the ‘24 bikes. Let’s see if we can keep going.”
James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
