What MotoGP ‘pitlane people’ privately said about overconfident Marc Marquez after first Ducati crash

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Marc Marquez’s start to the MotoGP season was ominous. At the first two weekends of the year, he was unbeaten in pole, qualifying and the race.

Worse still, Marquez appeared to be riding within himself. Francesco Bagnaia remarked after the Thailand GP, where the #93 dropped behind brother Alex to increase tyre pressure before re-passing late on, that he was ‘playing with’ his rivals.

It seemed that he had more pace to unleash if he truly came under pressure. And perhaps the only one who could beat Marquez was Marquez himself.

The picture was looking a little bleak both for his competitors and neutral observers. But after the events of the Americas GP, he’s relinquished the lead of the world championship.

MotoGP rivals thought Marc Marquez would be humbled by his crash – they were wrong

Coming into the weekend, Marquez hadn’t crashed the Ducati during an official MotoGP season. But in a sodden FP1 session, the Spaniard highsided through the slaloming first sector.

Marquez’s helmet struck the tarmac as he landed, but he re-emerged later in the session. He still set the third-fastest time, only a tenth and a half off the pace of Franco Morbidelli.

According to MotorSportMagazine’s Mat Oxley, though, ‘pitlane people’ thought the incident would ‘knock out any overconfidence’ within Marquez. He may have started feeling invincible after his early dominance.

As it turned out, the six-time premier-class champion topped the evening practice by seven tenths, maintained his 100% qualifying record and survived an early scare to win the Sprint. He did, of course, crash out of Sunday’s Grand Prix to hand Bagnaia the win, and Oxley suspects that one may take longer to get over.

Francesco Bagnaia’s eerie feeling before Marc Marquez crashed at Americas GP

Alex Marquez replaced his former Gresini teammate at the top of the standings, having once again finished second in Austin. When the development race kicks in, he may lose ground on his year-old GP24.

Marquez says his brother fears him less than any other rider because he’s seen him suffer up close during his injury lay-off. But the reality is that beating Bagnaia likely remains the path to the title.

The 32-year-old inadvertently boosted the confidence of his teammate last time out. Lusail and Jerez are among the Italian’s favourite venues, so the dynamic in the championship could change.

Bagnaia had a ‘premonition’ that he’d win the Americas GP even though he was starting down in sixth place. He privately suspected that Marquez may run into trouble at the front.