Why Factory Ducati Struggled at Silverstone: Tyre Wear and Fitness Issues

A tough weekend for the factory Ducati team at MotoGP Silverstone, scoring just 10 points, all from Marc Marquez. The nine-time world champion salvaged a single point in the sprint, then battled to seventh in the main race, only to be passed by Fabio Di Giannantonio late on, making him the third-best Ducati behind his brother Alex, who narrowly missed the podium after a mistake at Turn 1.

Team-mate Pecco Bagnaia had an even worse outing, limping to 17th in the sprint before crashing out of 15th on Sunday. So, what made Ducati so weak at Silverstone?

The biggest issue was tyre wear. Marquez suffered a severe drop in rear tyre performance during the sprint, which he attributed to graining. The problem, which hadn't appeared in practice, derailed his strong start that had him fighting in the top four. "I'm disappointed because we experienced a new feeling in the sprint race, that in the practice we never had that drop on the rear tyre. I was not the only one, many riders have it, but I was the one that suffered more because it started super early," he said.

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Bagnaia also complained of a huge lack of rear grip, clarifying that the problem was not the tyre itself but the effect the Ducati has on it. "The factory team today struggled a lot. Me and Marc were the slowest riders in the last laps, so it's difficult to imagine what to do," he said. Aprilia's relative strength made the situation look worse, with Yamaha's Fabio Quartararo speculating that the Noale factory's bikes were able to keep rear tyre temperatures lower somehow.

Sunday's race was better for Marquez, without the massive drop he experienced in the sprint, allowing him to manage normally. However, in a rare showing, he was still nowhere near the top Ducati. Marquez said his biggest limitation on Sunday was himself, as he continues to recover from another right arm surgery. "Endurance is where I need to try to improve," he admitted.

Marquez insists this situation does not concern him, hinting it's because he's already won so much. "If not, it will not change my future life. I fought enough during my career, I will fight when I feel well," he said.

For Bagnaia, Sunday's race ended in the gravel at the same spot at Luffield where his 2025 British GP finished. A bizarre incident where he lost the front on corner exit. "Very strange, honestly. I never lose the front exiting from a corner. I completely lost the front in a matter of milliseconds," he said. He insisted this was due to a persistent rear grip issue that has troubled him all year with the 2026-spec bike. "We need to rise from this situation because I don't want to do another weekend like this one," he stressed.

Save for Le Mans, where Marquez withdrew with injury, this marked the factory team's lowest-scoring weekend of the year. Marquez is 40 points behind championship leader Jorge Martin, while Bagnaia is another 57 points behind his team-mate.