The 12th round of the MotoGP, the Czech Grand Prix, was held at the Brno Circuit in the Czech Republic from July 18th to 20th, with Marc Marquez (Ducati) winning both the sprint race and the final race. As a result, Marquez has built a 120-point lead over second-placed Alex Marquez (Ducati), and has finished the first half of the season with a large lead in the championship.
Marc Marquez dominates Czech GP after 5 years
The Czech Grand Prix, held for the first time in five years since 2020, was also a weekend dominated by Marc Marquez (Ducati).
The Brno Circuit had just had its surface resurfaced, and as this was the first time the race had been held in five years, manufacturers and teams lacked data. However, or perhaps it was precisely because of this that Marquez’s strength stood out.
Although he lost pole position to his teammate Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) after a crash in Q2, he led the sprint race from the start and, although he lost the lead to Pedro Acosta (KTM) in second place on the fifth lap, this was a strategic move.
On the fourth lap, Marquez realized that his tire pressure was not up to par. There are minimum tire pressure regulations for sprint races and final races in the MotoGP class. In sprint races, the minimum tire pressure must be adhered to for 30% of the laps. Any deviation from this will result in an 8-second time penalty being added to the result.
Knowing that he might be penalized, Márquez decided to let Acosta take the lead and increase the pressure in his front tire.With two laps remaining, and no longer concerned about a penalty, he passed Acosta and took the win.
After the race, Marquez, Ai Ogura (Aprilia), and Alex Rins (Yamaha) were told that their tire pressures were under investigation, but it was later discovered that this was due to an error in the minimum tire pressure setting in the Race Direction warning system. Marquez won, and the positions at which Ogura and Rins finished were the final results.
In the early stages of the race, Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia) took the lead, and seeing Bezzecchi braking hard and cornering at high speeds, Marquez thought, “I’ll just get behind him and see how he does.”
“Then, when I felt his tyres start to drop, I made a move. From there I was able to do my own thing. As always, I started to feel better and better in the second half of the race. After that, I just managed the gap.”
Bezzecchi, who was in the lead for a time, knew that Marquez was strong. “So when he overtook me, I didn’t panic. I tried to keep up, but I saw the gap widening, so I tried not to lose my rhythm,” he said. His rivals also knew that it would be difficult to compete against the current Marquez.
Márquez was the only rider to record consecutive lap times in the 1’53s range that day, and his incredible race pace saw him maintain a two-second advantage to win, making him the first Ducati rider to achieve five consecutive wins in the premier class.
His younger brother, Alex Marquez (Ducati), who is second in the rankings, had a bad start in the sprint race and finished 17th. He crashed out of the final race and earned himself no points. As a result, Marquez, who is currently at the top of the championship rankings, has finished the first half of the season with a 120-point lead over second-placed Alex. Even though there are still 10 races remaining, this is a significant points gap considering Marquez’s current momentum.
Exactly five years ago, on July 19, 2020, Marquez crashed during the final race of the Spanish Grand Prix, breaking his right humerus. This was the beginning of Marquez’s nightmare. He missed the entire 2020 season, and after four surgeries, he was unable to regain his performance. He then left his longtime Honda team at the end of 2023 to join Ducati in the hopes of becoming champion once again. Now, exactly five years after that crash, Marquez is back leading the championship.
“Last year was really important. The Gresini team (the Ducati satellite team he was on for 2024) gave me the chance to come back. I felt really good… not perfect, though. Step by step, I got more and more confident again.”
Marquez explained the factors that led to the current situation.
The second half of the season begins with the Austrian Grand Prix in August, and Marquez will be aiming to win his seventh premier class title, just as he did in the first half of the season.
Although it wasn’t a pole-to-win, in the end it was a race that Marquez controlled ©MotoGP.com
“I’ve lost my chance to fight for the championship over the last five years, but I think I’ve grown as a person,” said Marquez.
