Marc Marquez is stuck behind Bastianini in Mugello

Who would have thought that? After Casey Stoner (27), Francesco Bagnaia (63), Marco Bezzecchi (72) and most recently Jorge Martin (89) each managed to clinch the MotoGP victory for Ducati that matched their starting number, it was eight-time world champion Marc Marquez who was unable to continue the Italians’ strange streak on Sunday in Mugello. Rather, the Reds’ 93rd premier class victory went to rocket starter Bagnaia, while Marquez had to spend almost the entire 2024 Italian Grand Prix behind fellow brand member Enea Bastianini.

“I was stuck behind Bastianini for almost the entire race. It was impossible to overtake him,” said the Gresini driver himself on Sunday evening, and not surprisingly, in his media round. The number 23 had overtaken him at the start of the race, as had Bagnaia, which is why Marquez had ‘only’ come out of the first corner of the Italian GP in fourth place. Anyone who had expected a quick march through to second place was disappointed. Lap after lap, the Spaniard was right behind Bastianini, but even with a slipstream on the 1.141-kilometer start/finish straight, he never really got within striking distance.

Marc Marquez is stuck behind Bastianini: He made no mistakes

“I had to fight against the fastest Ducati, which is usually Bastianini, because he is particularly aerodynamic,” Marquez explains his speed disadvantage compared to the Ducati factory rider, who is only one centimeter shorter. “He also drove the last corner very strongly every time. I wasn’t bad there either, but he never made a mistake and always braked extremely late.”

For a long time, Marquez had no way past his brand colleague, although he did seem to be stronger at times. This (necessarily) led to a change in tactics. “Because I was behind him the whole race, the temperature and air pressure in my front tire rose sharply. I then had to drop back a bit and open up a gap to be able to make another attempt,” he describes. And indeed, with five laps to go, he finally managed the long-awaited overtaking maneuver in turn one – albeit with a lot of risk. “You can see how I slipped with both tires,” laughs the Gresini driver. “That only works once and probably not twice.”

Ultimately, an overtaking maneuver against Enea Bastianini, it was still possible. However, as Marquez had already worn down his soft rear tyre in the previous 18 laps in order to stay in the slipstream of the factory Ducati on the start/finish line, he had no energy left on the penultimate lap when ‘Le Bestia’ countered. “When I overtook him, my pace was actually good and I gradually gained a few tenths on [Jorge] Martin caught up. But in the last two laps it was as if Bastianini had a fresh rear tire on. He was incredibly fast on the last lap, that’s when I gave up,” Marquez admits.

Marc Marquez satisfied: Back at the top of MotoGP

So he only finished fourth at the finish, which meant he missed the MotoGP podium for the first time since the sprint in Jerez at the end of April. Nevertheless, Marquez was by no means disappointed on Sunday evening: “We know what our realistic position is at the moment. Pecco was damn strong here, he had an incredible weekend. Nevertheless, we were again very close to the 24cc bikes and fought at the front. I had fun and am therefore very happy with this weekend overall.”