How Alex Marquez turned FP2 “problem” to an advantage in Silverstone MotoGP Sprint

In a Silverstone MotoGP Sprint that was dominated by Aprilia, Ducati struggled dramatically, but Alex Marquez much less than the others thanks in part, he says, down to a “problem” he had in practice.

Ducati’s main issue was tyre wear, with grip fading dramatically in the second half of the race for Fabio Di Giannantonio and Marc Marquez in particular.

While they went backwards, though, Alex Marquez went forwards. He said afterwards that his ability to manage the end of the race better than the other Ducati riders was because he’d already encountered that grip loss in practice.

“I had this problem already this morning on the FP2 second run that I was super-slow and having this problem,” he said.

“So, I think that was the best training for the race.”

Still, Marquez feels he should have run the medium-compound rear tyre instead of the soft.

“Now, after the Sprint and all that, I think we did a small mistake to not put the medium rear [tyre]. 

“I think for us it was a better option to pay a little bit of time on the first lap [...] to recover a lot in the end. 

“But it's like it is and it's an experience for the future. It was like it is. 

“Also, I was quite lucky in the beginning that I had Raul [Fernandez] and also Marco [Bezzecchi] in front. 

“They were fast, but not extremely fast, so at that point I was able to save some tyres. Instead, the other ones were trying just to follow Jorge [Martin], but he was super-fast.”

Marquez explained that he didn’t use the medium rear tyre in the MotoGP Sprint because he hadn’t considered it as an option before the last minutes before the start.

“I did the mistake that I never put the ‘option’ of the medium, you know,” he said.

“But then when Michelin came to me before going to the grid, they said to me ‘Maybe Raul will go with the medium’. 

“[They] said that he was with the medium and in the last moment he changed. 

“Then I was with the guys and said ‘Why not the medium?’ And then we started to think about it, but it was too late. 

“So, it's also my mistake to not think a little bit earlier and put all the options on the table.”