Gresini MotoGP rider Marc Marquez has explained why he failed to engage the ride-height mechanism at the start of the Austrian Grand Prix. The six-time MotoGP world champion was slow to break away from third on the grid in the race at Spielberg, allowing him to be gobbled up by several riders on the run to the first corner. To make matters worse, he was hit by Franco Morbidelli’s Pramac Ducati while braking, sending him wide on the asphalt run-off and dropping him to 13th place.

It was instantly evident that the stunning start was due to the hole shot device not working properly. Marquez revealed that the incident started from a damaged tyre valve on the starting grid, forcing Gresini mechanics to hurry to the Michelin garage to replace the tyre rim.

While there were no delays for the 31-year-old, the tire temperature dipped considerably below what he would have preferred, and he became preoccupied on the formation lap as he attempted to heat the rubber.

Marquez explained what happened moments before the race started: Today we were unlucky. Everything that could have happened to us, happened to us. Beginning with a technical problem half an hour before the race. When the mechanics were about to mount the tyre, they checked the pressure, and a valve had broken. They had to go quickly to Michelin, changing the tyre from one rim to another and losing temperature in the rubber.

The main option was to change the tyre if they didn’t have time, but they had time and we preferred to go out with the tyre even though it wasn’t at the right temperature. On the grid they told me to watch out on the warm-up lap, to get the tyre up to temperature. I was more focused on that than on what we have to do now and I didn’t hook up the starting device properly, the Spanish racer expressed.

On the last straight, I brake and I engage the front device well but then I brake again and it disengaged. Then I didn’t have enough speed. Without the front device, it was difficult to start well. We will have a ban but in 2027, so of course they already did a solution. But until 2027 as KTM showed this weekend with Pol Espargaro’s test bike, we will see many new things, he further added.

But the front height device is for everybody, and today it was like this and it was my mistake. We cannot ban a device because I made a mistake, in the past other riders did as we did, he concluded.