Ducati disaster in Austria: Alex Marquez and Diggia sound the alarm

Ducati did not make the podium at the MotoGP Austrian GP. Usually a favorable track for the Desmosedici, this year none finished in the top three in Sunday’s race. This time the riders encountered significant difficulties. Marc Marquez was the best Ducati rider, finishing fifth due to a brake issue.

For safety reasons, Michelin uses a harder carcass for the rear tires at the Red Bull Ring. Apparently, this carcass does not suit the current Ducatis, as evidenced by the issues reported by several riders. Starting with Alex Marquez, who immediately highlights the crux of the matter. "The feeling was very similar to the start of the season in Thailand. We have the same tires here, too. This doesn’t help us at all."

Aprilia managed to put the engine’s power down better. The same goes for KTM. Ducati tried to find more grip by making setup changes. But it didn’t work all that well. The only certain thing is that, after ten years of racing in Austria, this is the first time a Ducati hasn’t finished in the top three. A MotoGP weekend marred by brake and engine temperature issues. "I had warning lights on for overheated brakes, overheated engine, everything, but I told myself: ‘Okay, I’ll try. I’m thirteenth, fourteenth, so I won’t lose much if I crash.’" In the end, the crash came after a duel with Raul Fernandez in which Alex Marquez lost the front.

The VR46 garage also worked at a fast pace to find the best setup for Fabio Di Giannantonio’s Ducati. The Roman rider also reported brake issues, although he believes something has been off "for the last two or three Grands Prix. I think we need to improve as a team, stay united, work hard, and get back to the weekend mindset and planning we had at the start of the season. It’s also true that we’ve had problems, like having ‘only one bike’ in recent weekends. When these things happen, everything seems insurmountable, but the reality is that we’re struggling, also for reasons beyond our control."

Asked about the brake problems also experienced by Marc Marquez during the race, ‘Diggia’ played it down. “I’ve been with Ducati for five years and these things happen. It’s nothing new; we’ve always had small issues of various kinds: anything can happen. Sometimes the brake lever stiffens up and stops working, as happened to Pecco in a couple of races, or it extends."

In the long race at the Red Bull Ring, Fabio took ninth place, while in the MotoGP Sprint he didn’t score any points for the standings. "I had brake problems all weekend, although fortunately both races went well. I also had issues at Misano; unfortunately it happens, luckily it didn’t happen in the race."

Ducati engineers will now have to undertake considerable research to determine the causes, so that the combination of insufficient rear-wheel grip and overheating front brakes does not recur in Indonesia, where the harder carcass will be used again.