Courtesy of an uncatchable Marc Márquez, the Ducati Lenovo Team took the Sprint win at Balaton Park – the team’s seventh consecutive victory in the shorter Saturday race. Francesco Bagnaia crossed the finish line in thirteenth position.
Márquez got off to a perfect start from pole, taking the lead into turn one and completing the opening lap with a 0.6s margin. After a series of quick laps, Marc then managed the gap in the closing stages up to the chequered flag. Bagnaia, starting from fifteenth on the grid, was ultimately thirteenth as he continues to face a challenging weekend on the Hungarian track.
The Ducati Lenovo Team will be back in action tomorrow morning at 9:40 local time (GMT +2) for the warm-up, followed by the Grand Prix of Hungary, which will be contested over a 26-lap distance from 14:00.
Marc Márquez (#93 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 1st
“The goal was to stay in the lead from start to finish, and we achieved it. At turn one I heard an engine sound very close to me, so that’s why I released the brakes. I know that with this turn one, a mistake is always around the corner for everybody, especially for those on the inside line, which has less grip. Then at the end of lap one I realised I had a 0.6s margin, so I just tried to stay in control, without overdoing it, and by riding in the best possible way. I’m very happy with the feeling on the bike. Tomorrow it’s going to be a question mark with regards to tyre wear and mapping, but we have the experience to tackle everything in the best way.”
Francesco Bagnaia (#63 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 13th
“I knew that from fifteenth on the grid it would be difficult to put together a comeback, especially as this has generally been harder to do this year in the Sprint. In the end, we chose to make a significant change to the bike set-up and I think it could represent a good starting point. Aside from the first two to three laps, in which I had to adapt to the change, I was then able to brake a lot harder and this helped me a lot, even though I ended up struggling more in other areas. Tomorrow, in the warm-up, we’ll try to make another step in this direction. It’s going to be a long and challenging race. It has been a difficult period, but we need to keep believing as we know how high our potential is.”
