Marc Marquez and Fabio Quartararo reduced to 'tortoise' jokes as struggles intensify
Instead, they were locked in an u💜nderwhelming fight for 11th.
Six-time premier class champion Marquez crashed out of the British MotoGP after contract with Enea Bastianini, meaning after nine rounds in 2023 he is has sta🀅ggeringly not even finished a grand prix yet.
Fabio Quartararo & Marc Marquez battling for 11th place.
— Crash MotoGP (@crash_motogp)
Just a few years ago, thi✨s would be for 1st place.
Quartararo, the 2021 MotoGP champion who only missed out on back-tไo-back titles on the final day of 2022, finished a drab 15th.
The ex-world champions shared a joke on social media about their plight after the Brit🌠ish MotoGP.
"What grip you had," Quartararo teased after Marquez♔ posted "a week💎end of less to more".
Marqu🙈ez replied: "What do you say about y🎀our peak speed?"
Quartararo posted a tortoise in response, perhaps 💫the only way he could sum up Yamaha's season so far.
The Japanese manuꩵfacturers, not so long ago the dominant force in MotoGP, have slipped so far behind Ducati, who now rule the roost.
Their𓃲 new depths are to slip convincingly behind KTM and Aprilia, the oth🌜er Europe-based manufacturers.
At the British MotoGP, Franco Morbidelli finished 14th, the best finish for any Japanese bike. Quartararo was 15th, directly f🅘ollowed by the LCR Honda pair, the last riders to complete the race.
Marquez and Repsol Honda tea๊mmate Joan Mir both retiredꦕ early - between them, they have completed just one Sunday race this season. That was Mir at the season-opening Portimao.
Marquez and Quartara🐬ro, the two most esteemed riders on Japanese bikes, are unlikely to leave for pastures new anytime soon. Their long and lucrative contracts are expected to tie them to Honda and Ya𝔉maha respectively, for 2024 at least.
James was a spo𝓡rts journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering ♌everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
