Marc Marquez Brands His Ducati ‘Unrideable’ Amidst Tyre Woes at British Grand Prix
Marc Marquez delivered a stark verdict on his Ducati MotoGP machine after struggling intensely with tyre degradation during the British Grand Prix weekend at Silverstone.
The six-time world champion described his bike as “unrideable” following the Sprint race, highlighting severe rear tyre wear that crippled his pace and compromised his race performance.
Marquez’s qualifying session yielded only a sixth-place grid spot, a position he was unable to improve upon throughout the weekend. He finished ninth in the Sprint race on Saturday and seventh in the main event on Sunday. These results paled in comparison to the pace shown by the Aprilia riders, several Ducati teammates, and even KTM’s Pedro Acosta, underscoring the Spaniard’s challenge in extracting performance from his package.
Tyre degradation emerged as a critical issue at Silverstone, with Marquez particularly afflicted. During the Sprint, he experienced a dramatic drop-off in performance, nearly falling out of the points after being in podium contention. The severity of the problem was laid bare in private footage released by Ducati, where Marquez candidly discussed his difficulties with a Michelin representative in the team garage.
“The rear tyre… unbelievable. Just, lap three… Unrideable, unrideable, it was impossible. To lean, to open the gas, it was like a rain tyre,” Marquez confessed. “But I’ve never had this before with this tyre. This feeling? Never. And then I wasn’t able to ride. This was impossible, even as soon as I put angle… I cannot say how to improve, I don’t know. I saw that Diggia had the same problem, more or less.”
This revelation highlights not only the extremity of the tyre wear but also the confusion and frustration within the Ducati camp regarding how to address the issue. Marquez’s struggles were compounded by physical challenges; he admitted to lacking control over his right arm during the race, citing his fitness as “not too rosy” despite the summer break aimed at recovery.
The combination of catastrophic tyre wear and physical limitations left Marquez off the pace and unable to challenge for top positions. His unfiltered admission of the Ducati’s condition as “unrideable” marks a rare and blunt critique from the rider, emphasizing the uphill battle he faced at Silverstone.
Marquez’s predicament raises pressing questions about Ducati’s tyre management and setup for high-degradation circuits, as well as the rider’s ongoing physical condition impacting his ability to extract maximum performance.