Michelin has revealed the reasons behind the puncture that forced Marc Márquez to suddenly abandon the Thailand Grand Prix of MotoGP. The Ducati rider suffered a failure on the rear tire while battling for third position with Raúl Fernández, with only five laps remaining in the race.
The failure occurred at turn 4, and Márquez avoided falling while the tire rapidly deflated and partially disconnected from the rim. Several other riders also faced tire issues due to the high temperatures in Buriram, including Márquez’s Honda teammate, Joan Mir, who also had to retire.
After the race, Márquez hinted that the incident may have been caused by an impact with the curb, although he did not understand why he had taken a different line at turn 4. Piero Taramasso, Michelin’s MotoGP manager, indicated that there were no inherent defects in the tire, but rather the combination of aggressive curbs and extreme track temperatures was the main cause of various damages and double rims over the weekend.
Taramasso commented: “Marc told us that the only mistake he made was going too wide. He hit the curb, the wheel bent, so the air came out and the tire detached. It’s a shame because at that moment he was the fastest on the track.”
The manager of the Ducati team, Davide Tardozzi, added that he had never seen a failure like this in his MotoGP career, and lamented that Ducati’s streak on the podium, which had lasted four years, was broken at this GP. Despite the difficulties, Márquez kept his podium hopes alive while Fernández experienced tire degradation in the final laps.
Tardozzi concluded: “He [Márquez] hit the curb and broke the rim, and that’s why he lost air and was forced to stop. It’s a pity, but that’s how motorcycling is.”
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