Marquez stands by bold MotoGP title claim after Silverstone struggles
Marquez is among those critical of the rule change (Credit: Ducati)
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 had a tough weekend at Silverstone in his first race since declaring he’s the title favourite.
The nine-time world champion saw his pursuit of Aprilia’s trio of championship leaders knocked back by a seventh-place race finish and ninth-place sprint.
Marquez didn’t look like himself at all as he struggled to battle his rivals, and it was a similar story for most of the Ducatis in a British Grand Prix where the Aprilias soared.
Trackhouse’s Raul Fernandez took the Grand Prix win while Jorge Martin extended his title lead and Marco Bezzecchi showed he’s certainly up for the fight.
The race was far from promising for either Marquez or Ducati, and came after the Spaniard had started playing title mind games.
ADVERTISEMENT
Pre-race, the 33-year-old tried to pile pressure on his rivals, saying he was the title favourite.
Marquez had earlier taken a phrase from Verstappen, saying a title would be 'life-changing' for his rivals (Photo: Red Bull Content Pool)
Marquez doubles down after Silverstone struggle
He even channeled Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen, saying another title ‘wouldn’t change his life, but would change theirs’.
ADVERTISEMENT
That quote was put to him in his post-race media duties with DAZN and he had to force a smile, replying: "I'm still the favourite. Come on, man."
Marquez did, however, justify his comments, explaining that he expected an off-weekend from Ducati, more specifically, the factory squad.
The no.93 finished behind brother Alex on his Gresini and Fabio Di Giannantonio on a VR46, both with Ducati power.
Marquez explains why Ducati struggled at Silverstone
Marquez explained: "My bike is the same as Alex's. He was faster with his riding style, as was Diggia. We haven't found the right way to be as consistent and strong as them in the race.
ADVERTISEMENT
“Here, the Aprilia was very good; on other tracks, the Ducati will be better. The best result today would have been fifth: I finished seventh, which doesn't change much.
“The setting was right, the bike was good, the tyres were right, but it was me who didn't have the feeling to push for the maximum."
Marquez admits rivals handed him route back into title fight
ADVERTISEMENT
There was another factor too, no slip-ups from his competitors.
Despite his legendary talent and astonishing comeback, Marquez has still needed failures from his rivals to come back into the title fight.
Aprilia factory riders Martin and Bezzecchi have been particularly profligate, but the pair both put in absolutely solid showings around Silverstone.
Marquez finished: “It's the same thing I've been saying all along - we have to improve if we want to fight for the championship.
“We've found ourselves in this position thanks to a gift from our rivals, but we need to be more consistent at the tracks where we struggle, and try to make the most of the ones where we feel strong.
ADVERTISEMENT
“Here we've struggled, but we paid too high a price for it.”
Don’t miss GPblog in Google
Mark us as a preferred source and our articles will appear more often at the top of Top Stories.
Add as a preferred / source on Google
