For a change, we are not talking about how big Marc Márquez’ margin of victory will be on Saturday and Sunday. Indeed, there is a reasonable chance that it might not even be a Ducati on the top step of the podium: the two factory KTMs of Brad Binder and Pedro Acosta topped the timed practice session, with Enea Bastianini making it three KTMs in the top six; Marco Bezzecchi put the factory Aprilia into fifth, with Ai Ogura making it two Aprilias in the top ten; and there were the Hondas of Johann Zarco and Luca Marini in eighth and ninth. And if Fabio Quartararo had found four thousandths of a second on his flying lap, all five manufacturers would have been present in the top ten.
The lack of grip at Barcelona is a great equalizer. It has defanged the Ducatis by taking away their ability to drive out of the corner and punch down the straights. “I think this is one of the main reasons why all the manufacturers are very close,” Marc Márquez told us. “Because the limit is the grip. You cannot take the maximum profit of our bike, for example, of the acceleration. You are always reducing the torque more and more.”
