Marco Bezzecchi
Marc Marquez was dealt a generous portion of luck at the British Grand Prix after being reinstated to the front of the pack following a crash.
The Spaniard found himself on the ground on lap two of the British Grand Prix, and at the back of the pack after struggling on cold tyres.
Ducati appear to have a really tricky bike in cold and windy conditions, which led to a lot of their riders crawling around Silverstone.
Marquez watched on as brother Alex lost the lead at turn one with a spectacular crash, benefiting also from a red flag one lap later due to an oil spillage at Vale corner.
The incident led to Marquez being the ‘happiest’ rider and handed him the opportunity to compete at the front again. He took that chance and secured third and a valuable haul of points.
MotoGP fans were in disbelief at the rule which allowed the brothers back into the race, but it did make for more fascinating drama.
Valentino Rossi would have been frustrated with Franco Morbidelli for Marc Marquez-helping red flag
Marquez had a new device at Silverstone, but he couldn’t add to his tally of wins for the season. Instead, he made a third big mistake of the year.
It was actually VR46’s Franco Morbidelli, whose bike leaked oil after a crash with Aleix Espargaro, which forced the red flag while the track was cleared up.
Ironically, the team of Marquez’s ex-arch rival, Valentino Rossi, helped him out big time, and it might not have been the best of news to the Italian legend, according to Mat Oxley.
“The funny thing was of course, that it was Franco Morbidelli, VR46’s first and number one rider whose bike was lying on the track, leaking oil, that got the Marquez brothers [back into the race],” he said.
“Poor old Valentino Rossi must have been sat at home throwing bricks at the TV or something. He must’ve been cheering when Marc crashed, because obviously he wasn’t hurt.
“I’m not saying that Rossi would cheer if he got hurt. He was probably cheering when he crashed and then the red flag came out. He must’ve been [frustrated].”
Is Marc Marquez the favourite for the 2025 MotoGP title?
The problem with Marquez’s MotoGP title charge for the rest of the year is his mistakes. Are they a symptom of getting older?
His brother has limited them for the most part, and is only growing in confidence at every race. He looked faster than Marc on pure merit at Silverstone for the first time ever.
Marquez had an ‘angry’ response for Alex after suffering a near career-ending shunt at the 2020 Spanish Grand Prix.
However, the intensity of a title battle has brought them closer than ever. There’s a chance that changes as the season progresses, though.
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