“Impossible” to fight Aprilias in Silverstone MotoGP, says one Ducati rider
Alex Marquez thinks it will be “impossible” to fight the Aprilias in the Silverstone MotoGP race.
Despite finishing as the best Ducati in the Silverstone MotoGP Sprint, Alex Marquez is pessimistic about his chances of battling the dominant Aprilias in Sunday’s British Grand Prix.
Marquez was almost seven seconds adrift of the winner, Jorge Martin, in the Sprint, as Aprilia locked out the podium.
The Spaniard also pointed out that Aprilia would likely have locked out the top-four had Raul Fernandez not crashed, leading him to believe he has no chance of fighting with the RS-GPs on Sunday.
“Yes,” Alex Marquez responded when asked after the Sprint if it will be impossible to battle the Aprilias on Sunday.
“I mean, nothing more to say. Today, my P4 was P5 without the crash of Raul [Fernandez], so with all the Aprilias on track, the P5 will be the maximum that we will fight for.”
Marquez added that he doesn’t feel he and Ducati are far away from Aprilia’s level, but he reiterated that it will be “impossible” to fight with them over 20 laps.
“[The gap in the Sprint] was six seconds,” he said.
“It's not so big. I think making everything in the perfect way, because Martin has a clean race and also Ogura.
“So, I think being more patient and starting from three seconds.
“So, we are not really far, but impossible to be there.”
Although he finished as the leading Ducati in the Sprint, though, Marquez doesn’t feel he’s clearly the best of the Bologna brand’s riders.
“I don't know, maybe I get injured and I'm riding a little bit smoother than the other ones, so that helps sometimes a little bit,” the Gresini Racing rider said.
“I think from Jerez we are in a good tendency, in a good shape, with a really good feeling with the bike – with the problems, but surviving maybe better than the other ones.
“But I don't feel that I'm the best Ducati.
“I can extract a little bit more potential, but not every time.
“So, I think that I don't consider me the best Ducati.
“We are more equal in terms of performance and speed with Diggia [Fabio Di Giannantonio] and Marc [Marquez].”
Alex joined the Crash.net team in August of 2024 having covered consumer and racing motorcycle news at Visordown for two years.
