At a track where he once seemed unbeatable, reigning champion Marc Marquez only had a fifth-place finish to show for his efforts in Sunday’s US MotoGP.

The factory Ducati star said he paid a high price for his Sprint mistake with Fabio di Giannantonio, which not only cost him Saturday points but a long-lap penalty in the grand prix.

“We paid for the mistake of yesterday, with a very expensive price,” Marquez told MotoGP.com.

“Because it was zero points yesterday but today that penalty – when you go out in the middle of the group, it’s good for the show, but not for myself!

“I tried, I did my best. I was able to understand a few things during the race. But apart from that, P5 was the best result I was able to do.”

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Indeed, even without the penalty, Marquez – who began the weekend with a huge 190km/h fall in opening practice – dismissed victory as a realistic option.

Once again, Marquez suffered badly for early race pace, being relegated to seventh even before he headed for the long-lap loop, rejoining in eleventh.

The factory Ducati star, a seven-time COTA winner, then spent the middle stages in ninth before picking off brother Alex, Enea Bastianini, and finally fading team-mate Francesco Bagnaia in the closing laps.

While the penalty cost him some track position, Marquez took the chequered flag 8.1s behind Aprilia race winner Marco Bezzecchi, having lost only 2.5s during the actual long lap.

Marquez’s fastest lap was just 0.096s from the best of the grand prix, but he took until lap 12 of 20 to set it. Bezzecchi’s best was on lap 6, runner-up Jorge Martin on lap 4.

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“I lose a lot of time in the first laps, because when the tyre is new, I’m not ready to ride the bike,” Marquez said. “I don’t feel good.

“Even in turn one, I made a mistake like yesterday. I braked and just the bike shakes and I [turned] in again because I wasn’t able to stop.

“But apart of that, the second part of the race was good it’s true, but not enough.

“Maybe without the penalty, to fight for the podium I think was possible, but difficult.”

Marquez concluded the opening flyaway segment of the season with just one (Sprint) win from the six races.

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The Spaniard’s best grand prix result this year is fourth in Brazil, having also suffered a technical DNF in the Thai season opener.

All of which means he will start his home Spanish MotoGP round, at the end of next month, 36 points behind Bezzecchi, who has won all three grands prix this season.

Fabio di Giannantonio finished as the top Ducati rider on Sunday, in fourth, with Bagnaia dropping to tenth.

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