Alex Marquez admits “zero fun” amid Ducati’s Austrian MotoGP grip woes
Alex Marquez described the Austrian MotoGP as “zero fun” as Ducati’s familiar rear-grip problems returned with the harder tyre construction.
Alex Marquez made no attempt to sugar-coat his Red Bull Ring weekend despite salvaging fifth place in Saturday’s Austrian MotoGP Sprint.
The Gresini rider finished as the second-best Ducati behind older brother and Sprint runner-up Marc Marquez.
However, it was Alex’s worst race result since crashing at July’s German Grand Prix, with Ducati again struggling for rear grip on the harder-construction tyre last used at the Buriram opener.
“Suffering is the word of our weekend,” said Alex. “Suffering and difficult to understand things, but the feeling is similar to what we had already at the beginning of the season in Thailand.
“We have the same tyres, so it looks like that is not helping us too much. We need to keep working. We are finding a few things step-by-step, but not enough to be with the Aprilias especially, and the KTM of Pedro.
“We used the Sprint to change a little bit the setup and aerodynamic things. It was working a little bit better, but not enough, so the grip problem is still there.”
Alex believes Aprilia’s ability to carry more corner speed means the RS-GP is less dependent on rear traction when grip is reduced by the stiffer, heat-resistant tyre construction.
“More than the circuit, I think it's about this casing, how [Aprilia] put the power on and how they transfer the power to the tyre," he explained.
“Looks like maybe we have a bike that is more stop-and-go, so we depend more on having good rear grip. And [Aprilia] can carry more speed on the apex, and be a little bit smoother on the throttle.
“Different bikes, but we are trying to solve this problem because this casing we'll have again in Malaysia, I think. Indonesia is a little bit different, but also very similar.”
"Zero fun"
Asked how much fun it was to ride in those circumstances, Alex replied:
“Zero! And I feel so bad on the bike. Like, okay, I was speaking with myself today, in the qualifying: I said, ‘Do you know how to ride or what, Alex?’ You know?
“It’s difficult to understand and difficult to enjoy like this.
“I mean, on the bike, you only just enjoy when you are fast. When somebody is faster than you, then you suffer. So [most] of time you are suffering!”
As well as the rear-grip issues, Marquez’s weekend has been interrupted by two fast practice crashes.
Team-mate Fermin Aldeguer, who was also on the podium in Austria last season, finished eighth in the Sprint.
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
