Marc Marquez admits the puncture that cost him a podium finish at the Thai MotoGP round was a “fully unlucky” problem with the tyre rim.
After an uncharacteristically sloppy weekend, Marquez finished second in the Thai MotoGP Sprint race after a late drop one position penalty saw concede the victory to Pedro Acosta at the final corner.
Following a difficult start to Sunday’s grand prix, the nine-time World Champion had been responding to the disappointment by producing a late podium charge.
However, his race ended at Turn 4 after riding over the kerbs caused his tyre to deflate, which according to Marquez was “fully unlucky” as it had “never happened” in his previous outings around Buriram.
“I jumped that kerb 100 times in the test for example, or during practice and what happened now never happened [before],” Marquez said via The Race.
“Normally those kerbs are made so that you can jump over [them] a good way. You need to be careful when you jump in, so I jumped out.
“But when I jumped out, I felt already that the rear tyre exploded, with a big hit also on the rim.
“Mid-corner already I felt like the rear slid a bit, more than usual, but I said ‘OK’, the tyre was used also.
“And then I saw that I was forcing too much the bike, I said ‘OK, I don’t want to take any risk, even if I lose time I jump out off the track and I will jump in again’.
“But that safe way today was not the best decision. I think it was fully unlucky to destroy the rim. We saw that many Moto3 riders, Moto2, jump [the kerb]. It was super strange.”
Despite his race on Sunday ending prematurely, Marquez admitted he was happy with the weekend overall as he was still struggling with the shoulder injury that ended his 2025 season.
However, the Ducati rider admitted that they have lost ground on their rivals after the flat tyre cost him an “optimistic” podium finish.
“Personally speaking about all weekend, I am happy, even riding in a strange way, I was there,” Marquez said.
“But it’s true that in the end we scored zero points in the race – zero points are zero points. It’s something that’s always important, to score points.”
“Sure was P4, optimistic for P3, and why not P2?
“The first part of the race I was trying to manage my physical condition and also the tyres.
“Then, when 10 laps remained, I gave everything and then I was closing the gap especially to Raul, and to Acosta also, I was catching him step by step.”
Michelin provides clarification on ‘unlucky’ Marc Marquez puncture
Ducati boss Davide Tardozzi was also disappointed by Marquez’s lack of fortune, and admitted the Spaniard didn’t know why the rim of the tyre exploded.
However, both Marquez and Tardozzi recognised that the issue was related to the kerbs on the outside of Turn 4.
“Unfortunately, he went to the kerb at Turn 4, and he broke the rim,” Tardozzi told TNT Sport.
“We could say that it was a mistake, but he has been really unlucky because many riders went out in Turn 4 and nobody had this problem.
“Anyway, it’s like this. [He said] he hit the kerb, he doesn’t know why, but the rim exploded.”
Piero Taramasso, the boss of MotoGP’s tyre supplier Michelin, admitted that there had been problems all weekend due to the hot conditions in Thailand.
Taramasso also admitted Marquez was not the only rider to face issues, as Jorge Martin escaped a tyre pressure penalty in the Sprint due to a faulty wheel rim caused by heat issues.
“We had this problem all weekend, many wheels bent when they returned to our tent because it was very hot,” he explained.
“The material is very soft, and the kerbs are very aggressive.
“For example, the loss of pressure in the front that Jorge Martin suffered yesterday was the same: he hit a kerb, the front wheel bent and deflated.
“Jorge had a slow loss, and Marc lost all the air all at once.”
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