Marc Marquez explains Silverstone MotoGP sprint issue ‘we never had before’

Marc Marquez says the extreme tyre drop he suffered in the MotoGP British Grand Prix sprint was an issue “in the practice we never had”.

The factory Ducati rider was battling for the top four in the early stages of the 10-lap sprint before his pace fell off a cliff.

The difference between Marc Marquez’s fastest lap and his slowest lap in the sprint was around five seconds, as he faded to ninth and narrowly held onto a single point by just 0.027s.

Marquez says he was “risking a lot to have a crash” to try to keep ahold of a point and was surprised by the tyre drop he experienced.

“I mean, I'm disappointed because we experienced a new feeling in the sprint race, that on the practice we never had that drop on the rear tyre,” he told the media, including Crash, on Saturday.

“I was not the only one; many riders had it, but I was the one that suffered more because it started super early.

“Already on lap four I started to feel a massive drop, and then I just tried to survive and finish the race.

“Because when I was in that seventh position, sixth position, I was suffering a lot, risking a lot to have a crash, and the difference in points between sixth or zero is only three, four points.

“So I just finished the race, and let's see for tomorrow if I can improve; let's see if I can manage better that rear tyre and also see if the team can find some solution to help a bit the rear tyre.”

Marquez wary medium tyre will fix his issue in the British GP

Marquez added that the tyre drop was not degradation, but graining, though said this wasn’t down to track temperatures.

“I mean, it's not like the temperature was much colder, because normally with cold temperatures… the problem is that it was not tyre degradation, it was graining,” he explained.

“And when you have graining, it's like the rubber is not working in a correct temperature.

“So let's see if tomorrow we can find a solution, but the thing is that we will have the doubt even starting the race with some solution, because on the practice and in the warm-up, you will not feel it.”

Asked if the medium rear in the main race will make a difference, Marquez was not convinced it will: “I hope, I wish, but on the papers, soft and medium are very, very similar tyres.

“Left [side] compound is the same, right [side] compound is the same family, only one step harder, so it's not a big difference between tyres.”

Marquez had a big moment in the latter stages trying to defend his position, which proved so severe that it deployed his suit’s airbag.

“I had a massive shake with that rear tyre and the airbag deployed, because I was already on the floor. But then the airbag deployed, but luckily I stayed on the bike,” he said.

Marquez is now 29 points down on championship leader Jorge Martin, who has extended his lead to 17 after winning on Saturday at Silverstone.

He will go from sixth on the grid on Sunday having abandoned a lap that could have challenged for pole when he mistook a lack of adhesion flag for a yellow flag.