Marc Marquez says his lack of speed in the Austrian Grand Prix week so far is entirely down to a specific tyre rear casing Michelin has brought for the Red Bull Ring.
After scoring back-to-back double wins at Aragon and Misano, the factory Ducati rider has been on the back foot this weekend, failing to put up a fight for either pole position or the sprint win on Saturday.
He salvaged a solid second-place finish in the half-distance race to drop only three points behind new championship leader Jorge Martin, but his pace deficit to the Aprilia and KTM’s Pedro Acosta was more alarming.
After losing the lead to Acosta on the opening lap, he dropped over two seconds to the KTM rider in the first half of the race. Likewise, he was no match to Martin, who passed him with ease on lap 8 after recovering from eighth on the opening lap.
The reigning champion was on course to finish the race in third, with Marco Bezzecchi looming in his mirrors, but was promoted to second when Acosta crashed out of the lead with three laps remaining.
Speaking afterwards, Marquez pointed to Michelin’s stiffer rear carcass that is used at a handful of events – Buriram, Goinaia, Red Bull Ring and Mandalika – due to higher loads.
“We are struggling. We struggled a lot in Thailand and we struggle again here. We know that it’s a different casing. It’s the same for everybody and the tyres are working well, but we need to understand well how to be better with that casing.
“In Thailand, we struggled a lot, me and all the Ducatis, and here again. So, we need to keep pushing.
“The target was clear, just try to finish behind Jorge because Pedro and Jorge were faster than me.”
Jorge Martin, Aprilia Racing Team, Marc Marquez, Ducati Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / Getty Images
Marquez was the only Ducati rider to finish on the podium, with his brother Alex Marquez the next-best representative for the Borgo Panigale marque in fifth, behind the Aprilias of Bezzecchi and Ai Ogura.
Francesco Bagnaia was next up in sixth, while the likes of Fermin Aldeguer and Fabio di Giannantonio were even beaten by the LCR Honda of Johann Zarco en route to eighth and 10th respectively.
Asked if the rear casing was the only factor affecting Ducati’s pace on Saturday, Marquez said: “For me, yes, because we don’t change the bike a lot compared to the [recent] races and I was fast; all the Ducatis were also very fast.
“Here, since FP1, all Ducatis were struggling more than usual, but that’s it.”
Marquez on Martin battle
Marquez’s duel with Martin was one of the highlights of the race, with the two going head-to-head into the opening sequence of corners. Marquez initially emerged as the winner of the battle as Martin slipped to eighth, but the latter fought back to repass the Ducati on lap 8, forcing him wide on to the run-off.
Asked for his thoughts on the move, Marquez insisted that he found no point in trying too hard to defend his position.
“It’s normal, but in Turn 1, it’s okay because I used the area and I used my extra green [patch] and it was okay.
“The previous lap, I saw Bezzecchi behind plus 0.4s and then I saw Martin plus 0.1 behind. With seven laps to go, it was not necessary or it was not smart to defend very hard.”
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