Marquez’s Struggle at British MotoGP: A Tough Weekend on Ducati Unveiled

Marc Marquez sensed "something was off" | "Toughest weekend with a Ducati"

"It's obvious Marc is struggling when he starts handling it as if it were a Honda"

Marc Marquez experienced a frustrating British MotoGP, considered to be his poorest performance of the season.

The rider from Gresini secured a fourth-place finish in the grand prix on Sunday, a day following his crash while in fourth position during the sprint race.

He has acknowledged falling to fourth in the MotoGP rankings, after Enea Bastianini impressively clinched both the sprint and the grand prix victories.

"Neil Hodgson of TNT Sports commented that it was Marquez's most challenging weekend on the Ducati."

Struggled with consistency due to errors and accidents. Failed to finish the sprint race due to a crash.

"At no time did he appear at ease."

Glimpses of the vintage Marquez appeared as he attempted to recover time during braking, but he failed to hit the apexes.

From an overhead perspective, we observed several instances where the exits were visible. Upon entering, he managed to pull ahead, gaining a distance of two bike lengths, but then he would fall behind by five lengths as he exited.

It's evident when Marc is not having a good weekend because he treats it as if it's a Honda, which simply doesn't yield results.

For the majority of Sunday's race, Marquez held the fifth position until he managed to surpass Aleix Espargaro closer to the end.

He was gaining ground on Pecco Bagnaia, who finished third on the podium, but ultimately ran out of time.

Marquez describes struggle with Espargaro

Speaking to TNT Sports, Marquez said, “Truly, this weekend we put in a tremendous amount of effort with our team, and they performed outstandingly.

"We began with our foundation, but for reasons that need to be identified, we found ourselves significantly behind at this circuit."

Gradually, my condition improved. They provided exactly what was necessary, demonstrating complete understanding.

This implied that, during the competition, we found ourselves nearer to the leading competitors, particularly within the initial 10 laps.

"When the performance of the tires declined – notably for Bastianini and Jorge Martin – they maintained a high speed. However, Pecco was not far behind."

"I'm content with securing the fourth position, but regrettably, we didn't manage to achieve fourth place in the sprint race yesterday. Nonetheless, it's important that we press on."

Marquez was questioned about whether his prolonged battle with Espargaro, which he ultimately triumphed in, hindered his opportunity to contend with the leading three.

"Right from the start, I sensed there was an issue with the speed increase," he mentioned.

"We encountered a minor issue. However, we've now grasped the reason behind it."

"Indeed, I faced difficulty with speeding up and ended up applying the brakes too late."

Consequently, I passed [Espargaro] at Turn 3,4. In that spot, acceleration isn't necessary.

"Besides, finishing in fourth position was a positive outcome."

Marquez evaluates his mid-season performance

We've reached the midpoint of the MotoGP season, with 10 races completed and another 10 remaining.

Marquez has not yet secured a victory in either a sprint race or a grand prix with his latest motorcycle.

He has fallen to fourth place in the rankings, trailing 62 points behind the leader of the championship, Martin.

Nonetheless, he consistently remains the quickest rider on the previous year's Ducati model, frequently competing closely with those on the factory bike.

Marquez evaluated his performance over half the season, remarking, "Not too shabby, not too shabby. A few errors."

"There are things that naturally come with a new bike, and others, like the one from yesterday, that I could have steered clear of. After all, we are only human.

"I'm having a great time with this bike. We consistently find ourselves among the top five spots."

"We consistently lead in the GP23 motorcycle category and are competitive with the 2024 models. We'll see if we can maintain this momentum."

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