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The Repsol Honda rider, who is a double World Champion, has not had the best season so far, and it does not seem to be on the upswing. Although the 22-year-old has had two podiums this season, one of which was a win – at the Grand Prix of the Americas – his other races have not gone to plan.
At the Catalan Grand Prix, Marquez suffered his third race retirement of the seven races held so far, crashing out very early on, in the third lap of the race. He did well at Qualifying, securing a 4th position start for himself behind Jorge Lorenzo of Movistar Yamaha MotoGP, who would go on to secure his fourth win in as many races. Suzuki Ecstar had a 1-2 in qualifying, but their luck was rather like that of Marquez, as it began well, but failed to come to fruition. Polesitter Aleix Espargaro crashed out of the race, while second-place starter Maverick Vinales finished the race in 8th.
Marquez did well at his other home Grand Prix at Jerez, however. Riding with an injury sustained during independent practice prior to the Grand Prix, Marquez, who had a fractured finger, finished second behind his compatriot Jorge Lorenzo of Movistar Yamaha MotoGP.
Expected to do well this year, Marquez has been plagued by injury and a vehicle that is not up to the standard needed to potentially beat the Yamahas and Ducatis on the circuit, with Ducati struggling themselves to catch up the annihilation by Lorenzo and Rossi, who continued their streak at the Catalan Grand Prix. With 1.5seconds between winner Lorenzo and Rossi in second, there was an 18.5s gap between the top two and third place Dani Pedrosa, who is Marquez’s teammate at Repsol Honda.
It is evident other teams, barring perhaps Ducati, who have seemed to provide the only real challenge to Yamaha this season, simply do not have the hardware to match up to their standard. This, coupled with the talent of two MotoGP icons, has cemented Yamaha’s lead among drivers and constructors alike.
The team are at the top of the constructors’ standings with 166 points – their closest competitor, Ducati is nearly 50 points behind. The latter also trail the former in the riders’ standings, with Andrea Iannone third among them, 23 points behind Lorenzo, whose win at Catalunya has meant he is only 1 point behind teammate Rossi.
