Ahead of this weekend’s second race in Portimao, Marc Marquez knew exactly which rider’s data he needed to study, even if he insisted he was more than happy with fourth place on his Gresini Ducati MotoGP debut in Qatar.
The Spaniard finished the race as the top GP23 rider at Lusail, finishing 3.429 seconds behind Francesco Bagnaia, the factory Ducati rider and the race winner, and 1.496 seconds behind Jorge Martin, who took third place on the podium.
“I attempted to use the podium. I came close to making up ground on Martin. However, this approach works well, Marquez remarked. “I would have signed for it if they had told me at the Valencia test that I would have placed fourth today.”
Fourth place is a decent finish for me because I’ve never been a big fan of this circuit.
“We’re going to analyze the data right now: Bagnaia, the current champion, finished three seconds ahead of us. He is the one from whom we must learn how to set the bar even higher.
The other rider on the Sunday Qatar podium was Brad Binder of KTM, who came in second.
Alex, Marc’s younger brother and teammate, was the next best GP23 rider, finishing sixth, 3.362 seconds behind the #93.
“It’s not me; they’re riding better.”
Bagnaia and Martin are riding the newest factory-spec GP24, whereas Marquez is riding a bike that is only a year old. The eight-time world champion, however, is adamant that’s not how they defeated him in Qatar.
Not at all. They move more quickly. The world champion is one, and the runner-up is another. And in the second half of the season last year, they were significantly faster than the others, according to Marquez.
So, I don’t believe the GP24 is the only one. I already knew what I would have when I signed my contract, therefore I had my bike and my tools. They are riding better than I am, and the bike is functioning well.
However, I continue to follow my own path; this year, I want to be patient, enjoy myself once again, and compete for the top 5 spots, which is exactly what I did in Qatar.
“I think I haven’t reached the limit of the bike because every day I get better at riding and I make small adjustments that help.”
As a Repsol Honda rider, Marquez started the race in pole position and finished on the Sprint podium in Portimao the previous season, but they were both injured in an early collision with Miguel Oliveira.
On Friday morning, free practice for the 2024 competition begins.