Genius trick from Ducati engineers gave Marc Marquez an edge at Balaton Park

Marc Marquez was among the Ducati riders to gain an edge at Balaton Park after a clever trick from their engineers.

Factory Ducati rider Marquez won the Hungarian MotoGP at the circuit which was debuting on the calendar.

Balaton Park has divided opinion for the quality of the racing it enables, and for safety aspects.

But Ducati created an advantage for their riders with an unusual tweak to tackle the smaller-than-usual circuit.

“It was brilliant. Uccio Salucci told us this,” TNT Sports’ Sylvain Guintoli explained on the starting grid in Hungary on Sunday.

“You’d think that coming to a small track like here, you’d want a little bit more rear grip to make the bike more agile.

“So you’d normally shorten the bike for that. But they actually did the opposite.

“By lengthening the swingarm, you can see the axle is far back. By lengthening it, they gain stability.

“They have also taken a bit of rear grip off.

“That was one of the problems that they had - they had so much rear grip, that it was pushing the front in corner entry.

“It means they have more braking stability and more weight onto the front. That means agility in tight and slow chicanes.

“It has put the VR46 back in the mix.

“Guess who’s got a really long swingarm? Marc Marquez.”

Did Marc Marquez's brilliance make the difference?

Marquez duly ran out as the winner for the seventh grand prix in succession.

But there were only three Ducatis in the top 10.

VR46’s Franco Morbidelli finished sixth and Marquez’s factory teammate Pecco Bagnaia was ninth.

Fabio di Giannantonio, the runner-up in the sprint race, was forced to start from the pitlane after experiencing technical issues on his warm-up lap.

The true importance of the Ducati engineers’ tweak to their bikes for the grand prix cannot truly be measured because Marquez seemingly made the difference again.

Marquez had KTM’s Pedro Acosta and Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi for close company.

But in a sport where the tiniest of details can make a huge difference, Marquez was aided by the subtle but clever change to suit the uniqueness of Balaton Park.