Marc Marquez handed worrying Ducati warning after Austrian GP problems
Marquez didn't have much to smile about in Austria (Credit: Apex Agency)
13:30, 22 Sep
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Connor Andrews is Formula 1 and MotoGP writer for GPblog and various outlets. Having worked in motorsport for 15 years for leading companies, he has interviewed the sports biggest names and attended multiple Grands Prix.
Marc Marquez’s concerns over his Ducati have been echoed by Fabio Di Giannantonio in worrying fashion.
The nine-time world champion saw his hopes of a tenth take a blow in Austria as he only finished fifth in the Grand Prix, handing the title lead back to Jorge Martin.
Martin made easy work of Marquez in the sprint after an early bust-up, and then the Ducati rider struggled to compete on Sunday.
Speaking post-race, the Spaniard described a braking issue that disrupted his performance.
Marquez cut a frustrated figure in Austria (Credit: Ducati)
Marc Marquez reveals concerning Ducati brake problem
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He said: “From the first lap, I saw that something was wrong with the front brake.
“We were very lucky because I started to drop back, and suddenly. Around the halfway point, the brake was fixed, and that's when I started to push forward again.
“But, well, when these problems piled up, there was nothing I could do. Every time I braked, the brake lever was in a different position, and it was impossible to brake hard.
“And thankfully, the worst time it failed me was in Turn 1, where I was able to slide across the asphalt."
The issue may sound freakish, but worryingly for Marquez, one of his fellow Ducati riders wasn’t at all surprised.
His comments were put to VR46’s Di Giannantonio, who insisted such problems were nothing new.
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Di Giannantonio issues worrying warning to Marquez
“I’ve been with Ducati for five years, and these things happen,” he said.
“It’s nothing new; we’ve always had minor problems, which can be of various kinds - anything can happen.
“Sometimes the brake lever stiffens and stops working, as happened to Pecco [Bagnaia] in a couple of races, or the lever lengthens.
“I had brake problems all weekend, although fortunately both races went well. I also had problems in Misano; unfortunately, it happens, but luckily for us, it didn’t happen in the race.”
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He then added an even more concerning message, saying: “It’s also true that we’ve had some issues, like having ‘just one bike’ in recent weekends.
“When these things happen, everything seems daunting, but the reality is that we’re struggling, even for reasons beyond our control…”
Despite Diggia’s warning, Marquez was still confident things would be sorted for Motegi in two weeks.
Such issues are nothing new at Ducati (Credit: Red Bull Content Pool)
Marquez confident of fix before heavy-braking Motegi
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Playing down the issue, he said: "They're analysing it, everyone's analysing it.
“The good thing is that it's something visible in the telemetry, because often a rider's situation is one way, but then you stop and the engineers don't see anything.
“Here, you can see perfectly what happened, and now they have to work to try to understand what happened and try to avoid it, for example, at Motegi, which is also a track with heavy braking zones."
Finishing on his title fight, he commented: “If you had told me eight races ago that I was 12 points behind the leader, I would have signed up for it. So, I'm still very happy."
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