Marquez on Ducati, Qatar Marc Marquez was fourth fastest for Gresini Ducati during the final day of MotoGP pre-season testing in Qatar. Able...
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| Marquez on Ducati, Qatar |
Marc Marquez was fourth fastest for Gresini Ducati during the final day of MotoGP pre-season testing in Qatar.
Able to reduce the time attack gap to the likes of Francesco Bagnaia and Enea Bastianini, Marquez reminded everyone that he’s beginning to gel with the Ducati with every day spent on the GP23 machine.
Aleix Espargaro wants ‘more power’ as Ducati ‘are more competitive than us’
2024 Official Qatar MotoGP Test results - Day 2
Furthermore, Marquez demonstrated very good race pace, as was also the case in Sepang before a tip off late in the day.
“It was on the plan today to increase a bit the risk on the bike and increase the real limit of the bike,” Marquez told MotoGP.com. “Still, in one lap they are a bit faster but I’m happy because we improved our base set-up.
“We improved the time attack and then I was doing a very long race simulation; 20 laps but with the red flag it was about 18, but on lap 12 I crashed because I was trying different things.
“The pace was not bad. It was a complete pre-season. The first crash with the Ducati arrived after six days of testing.”
A technical issue hampered Marquez at the beginning of the day, but despite suffering from another technical issue at Sepang, Marquez is not worried heading into the opening round.
“No [I’m not worried], there was only one technical issue which they resolved super quick,” began Marquez.
“Yesterday we only rode with one bike and when we started today, the first run with bike number one there was a small issue.
“But they fixed it very quickly and lucky for me today was a stable day. It was time to put some more risk on the bike.”
While Marquez has been one of the fastest riders when it comes to race pace, the eight-time world champion didn’t want to give too much away.
Asked what position he believes is realistic for the season-opener, Marquez said:
“Realistically for Qatar - if the race was not I think we can fight for the fifth or sixth position.
“But on the race weekend it is different. These guys like Pecco, Martin, Bastianini know very well the bike and just go out, push, and are very quick from the beginning.
“I’m still far from them but I’m trying to learn the riding style and how they manage the problems. Step-by-step I hope to be closer.
“Will it be enough? At the moment I don’t know but we are a bit far.”
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