Marc Márquez has written a new chapter in Ducati’s history at the Automotodrom Brno by becoming – aboard the Ducati Lenovo Team’s Desmosedici GP – the first rider of the Borgo Panigale manufacturer to claim five consecutive Grand Prix wins. Bagnaia missed the podium by just half a second at the flag in fourth place, after a solid final stretch.
Márquez retained second place at the start and, after briefly taking the lead, slipped to third. He returned to second place on lap two and tailed Bezzecchi until the eighth lap, when he overtook his rival at turn three before pulling away for good in the second half of the race. Bagnaia, after a good start, lost touch with the leading trio. Pecco then found a strong rhythm and closed the gap but was unable to challenge for third in the final stages.
As the twelfth Grand Prix of the season comes to a close, Marc Márquez increases his tally to 381 points, extending his lead to 120 over Alex Márquez. Francesco Bagnaia is third, 168 points behind his teammate. The Ducati Lenovo Team continues to lead the teams’ standings (594 points), with Ducati also maintaining the top spot in the manufacturers’ standings (430 points).
The Ducati Lenovo Team will be back in action after the summer break at Spielberg in Austria, on August 15–17, for the thirteenth Grand Prix of the season.
Marc Márquez (#93 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 1st
“I felt really good on the bike, just like in yesterday’s Sprint. I saw that in the early laps, Marco (Bezzecchi) was pushing hard and taking some risks, so I decided to wait as the race was a really long one. As soon as I noticed the first drop in terms of grip, I overtook him and pulled a gap, and then controlled the race. To be honest, the feeling with the bike was superb — even better than the one I had at the Sachsenring. I was riding smoothly and had some margin to go even quicker. I’m very happy, I enjoyed this first part of the season: the team and the engineers have really done an excellent job.”
Francesco Bagnaia (#63 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 4th
“As the race progressed, I managed rear-end traction better and felt more comfortable as soon as I lowered the traction control level. As we didn’t have a dry FP2, I wasn’t able to do proper work with the mapping, so with less traction control this area did improve. The front-end, however, did not allow me to hit the brakes hard. I’ve always been a rider who was hard to pass under braking, while the situation is opposite right now. We’re working in different areas in order to improve. Surely, the approach to the season has changed after these many races as it’s hard to think about fighting with Marc in these conditions — we must be realists. We need to reset and do the best we can, keeping Alex (Márquez) as our reference point.”
Luigi Dall’Igna (Ducati Corse General Manager)
“Marc delivered another outstanding performance — it looked easy, but it was anything but. The work done in this first part of the season was perfect – the results are evident and he showed the type of champion he is. We’re still halfway, though, so we need to stay focused. Pecco showed some improvements in the race, and it was nice to see him competitive in the second half of the encounter. We’re aware that he’s still not fully comfortable but we’re making steps forward; he’s giving his all, and it shows. The results will come, I’m sure of it.”
