Marc Marquez will bid to take his first British Grand Prix win since 2014 at Silverstone this weekend amid his worst run of results since the six-time champion joined Ducati.
The 32-year-old has returned to dominating the premier class this year after Marquez joined Ducati to replace Enea Bastianini. Yet while the Spaniard has set a new all-time record run of Sprint wins with six, he is now two Grands Prix removed from triumphing in the main event.
Marquez won a record-setting sixth straight Sprint Race at Le Mans last time out, but would only come second in the French Grand Prix. His decision to switch back onto dry tyres at the end of the sighting lap proved to be a mistake as a double long lap penalty denied him glory.
Yet Gresini rider Alex Marquez crashing twice in the French GP still saw Marc stretch his lead in the riders’ standings over his brother to 22 points. The Cervera native will bid to build his margin further in the British GP, but Marc Marquez expects to be behind Alex at Silverstone.
Francesco Bagnaia rejects Ducati’s new front holeshot lever given to Marc Marquez at Silverstone
Ducati are still trying to help Marquez feel as comfortable as possible racing his Desmosedici GP25 at Silverstone, too. According to MotoMatters, the Borgo Panigale brand have fitted an ‘intriguing’ new lever on the Spaniard’s bike this week to operate the front holeshot device.
Even VR46 ace Fabio Di Giannantonio has also received the new lever as the only other rider on the 2025 grid outside of the factory Ducati duo with a GP25. Yet Francesco Bagnaia has rejected the new part in favour of keeping a butterfly switch to operate the holeshot device.
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The new, small lever sits behind the left handlebar on Marquez and Di Giannantonio’s bikes. But Bagnaia elected to keep his tried-and-tested butterfly switch on the first day of on-track action at Silverstone as the 28-year-old trusts it, whilst his rivals were more open to change.
Marc Marquez lapped Silverstone just 0.048s faster than Francesco Bagnaia in practice
Bagnaia also has bigger problems than Marquez and Di Giannantonio after the first day of practice for the British GP at Silverstone than trying to adapt to a new lever to operate the front holeshot device. He was slower than both during the pre-qualifying practice session.
The Italian would only post the seventh-fastest time during practice this Friday evening with his personal-best effort a 1:57.703. Marquez’s 1:57.655 lap put him fourth in the timesheet, while Di Giannantonio was P6 with a 1:57.699 as Alex Marquez led the way with a 1:57.295.
Two-time MotoGP champion Bagnaia will strive to overturn his deficit ahead of qualifying to try to take points out of Marquez’s championship lead. He is 51 points behind Marc after six rounds, and Dani Pedrosa feels Bagnaia is in an ‘awkward’ place being Marquez’s teammate.
