Luca Marini was stunned when he was shown one Marc Marquez photo after Spanish Grand Prix

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Marc Marquez salvaged a 12th place at the Spanish Grand Prix after going down early in the race. He crashed at the very same corner where he broke his arm back in 2020.

Fortunately, this incident was nowhere near as serious, and Marquez was able to remount fairly quickly. Just three laps into the race, he inevitably fell to the back of the pack.

When Marquez fell in Austin last month, he initially tried to carry on before he was forced to retire. Here, the damage looked severe once again, with the Spaniard ripping a hole in the side of his Ducati and also compromising its aerodynamics.

But Marquez managed to claw his way back from 21st to 12th, albeit with the aid of retirements ahead. Having won the Sprint, he still left the weekend 15 points better off.

It’s only the third time Marquez has been classified outside the top 10 since his dramatic Portimao tangle with Francesco Bagnaia at the start of last year.

Luca Marini says Marc Marquez lost 6kph with Spanish Grand Prix damage

Speaking on The Race MotoGP podcast, journalist Simon Patterson shared his conversation with Honda rider Luca Marini after the Grand Prix of Spain. Marini replaced Marquez at the Japanese team in 2024.

The Italian, who finished 10th, initially didn’t know how big a hit Marquez’s bike had taken. But he was stunned when he was shown a photo after his debrief.

Marini correctly surmised that Marquez had lost around 6kph (4mph) of speed after the fall. The six-time premier-class champion reported that the pace was still relatively good, which is a testament to his riding.

Patterson said: “At the end of his debrief, Luca Marini had said ‘I don’t know what Marc was doing, I don’t know what state his bike was in’.

“And just after his debrief finished, I had a photograph that I had screenshotted, and I showed him on my phone, and he was like, ‘Ohhhh, that’s like five or six kilometres an hour’. He was like, ‘No, that’s a lot’.

“I’ve just checked and Luca Marini, the technical genius, was exactly right. Marc was five kilometres an hour slower than he was in the Sprint race. The guy’s a genius.”

Luigi Dall’Igna may be about to discover Marc Marquez’s only weakness

Marquez maintained his 100% Sprint record in Jerez, passing shock polesitter Fabio Quartararo on lap two. He’s now picked up 60 points on a Saturday, not far short of half his overall total (139).

Ducati teammate Francesco Bagnaia continues to struggle in Sprints, relative to the potential of his bike at least. One could argue they’re the backbone of Marquez’s title bid right now.

In an interview during the Jerez weekend, Alberto Puig named Marquez’s only weakness – his reluctance to take on information. Puig occasionally had to be very blunt to make the former Honda rider listen.

Ducati boss Luigi Dall’Igna may now tell Marquez to be less aggressive after blowing two likely victories. But this is the approach he’s had throughout his storied career, so he’s unlikely to change.