Marquez's Lead Blown Away By Dovi

A rare Honda engine failure shook up the championship order, and it was Ducati rider Dovizioso who took advantage

- Edd Straw

Even when dealing with the disaster that struck while he was travelling down Silverstone’s Hangar Straight at around 180mph, the wider significance of the moment did not escape Marc Marquez. On the 14th lap of the British Grand Prix, he was running a very comfortable third behind Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi and Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso and had everything well under control. He was looking after his tyres, had correctly identified Dovizioso as the man to beat for victory and was gearing up for the business end of the 20-lap race. When his Honda engine blew, nobody was more aware than Marquez that it had also blown apart the world championship that he was leading.

Whether or not Marquez wins the crown, that moment will be of huge significance. It left the way clear for Dovizioso to win and take the points lead and, even before the final quarter of the race had played out, the Honda rider knew exactly what a golden opportunity this failure was for his rivals.

“The engine was working perfectly, but suddenly when I arrived at the end of the straight it just broke,” said Marquez, who had never retired from a MotoGP race with mechanical trouble in his previous 83 starts. “I pulled the clutch immediately because I started to feel that the rear wheel was locking and, at 300km/h, I don’t want a flight!

“At that moment, I was not thinking about what happened, I was thinking about the championship. The small advantage we had before the race, you don’t like to lose that advantage, but it’s part of racing. The most important thing is we were fighting for victory.”