Marc Márquez had never experienced this before in a race with Honda: seven laps into a Grand Prix where he was considered among the favorites, his engine went up in smoke. Literally as figuratively. A failure that left everyone at HRC speechless. And for good reason, no warning sign had appeared before this fatal mechanical outcome. A shower that was all the colder because the engine in question was new…
An evil that also caused harm. Because at the end of this twelfth meeting of the year, approached with a 14-point lead as leader of the championship, it is with a liability of nine units and a runner-up rank of Dovizioso the winner that Márquez packs his bags for Misano, in two weeks. A DesmoDovi already taken seriously by MM93 and which will be even more so: “ I was trying to manage the race by thinking about saving my front tire. This is always where our weakness lies when temperatures are high. I was riding comfortably behind Viñales and, in front, Rossi was not far away ».
« Then Dovi passed me. I then realized that he was the real danger for this race. He was riding really well, the Ducati was handling well and Dovi is still riding it really well. Before departure, I had put it among the favorites. So when he passed Viñales, I decided to do the same and follow him, because he was the man in the race. Now he leads the championship and has four victories, the highest number of victories ».
On his engine, he explains: “ that’s also racing. We were unlucky. I used this new engine all weekend. They analyzed everything, the guys on my team assessed everything and the people from Japan reviewed everything. Everything worked perfectly, the power never dropped and it happened. Something mechanical in the engine has happened. You need to know what it is because it was new. I'm sure they will understand and resolve this for the future. ».
Morale side of the troops, Márquez ensures that it remains high: “ we have to stay on the positive. We were in contention for victory against the Yamaha and the Ducati. We must stay the course, have the same spirit, the same level, because it is the right one. When I gave up, I immediately thought of the championship and the small advantage we had. But it's part of the race and these are things that can happen ».
On the Honda side, we barely consoled ourselves with fourth place in Crutchlow, first of the independents while Pedrosa finished seventh.
#BitishGP MotoGP J.3: Ranking
| 1 | 4 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati | 40'45.496 |
| 2 | 25 | Maverick VIÑALES | Yamaha | +0.114 |
| 3 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | Yamaha | +0.749 |
| 4 | 35 | Cal Crutchlow | Honda | +1.679 |
| 5 | 99 | Jorge Lorenzo | Ducati | +3.508 |
| 6 | 5 | johann zarco | Yamaha | +7.001 |
| 7 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | Honda | +10.944 |
| 8 | 45 | Scott REDDING | Ducati | +13.627 |
| 9 | 42 | Alex Rins | Suzuki | +15.661 |
| 10 | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | Ducati | +25.279 |
| 11 | 44 | Pol Espargaró | KTM | +30.336 |
| 12 | 53 | Tito RABAT | Honda | +31.609 |
| 13 | 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | Ducati | +31.945 |
| 14 | 8 | Hector BARBERA | Ducati | +33.567 |
| 15 | 76 | Loris BAZ | Ducati | +33.901 |
| 16 | 43 | Jack Miller | Honda | +43.012 |
| 17 | 38 | Bradley SMITH | KTM | +48.683 |
| Not Classified | ||||
| 41 | Aleix Espargaro | Aprilia | 2 lapses | |
| 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | Ducati | 3 lapses | |
| 29 | Andrea Iannone | Suzuki | 3 lapses | |
| 93 | Marc Márquez | Honda | 7 lapses | |
| 22 | Sam LOWES | Aprilia | 15 lapses |
