Still making his way to get adapted to a new bike after more than a decade riding another – and being super successful at doing so – Marc Márquez is still figuring out and adapting to the Ducati Desmosedici but saw signs of improvement, again, at Qatar. Still, the former world champion spoke about the real moment, calling for people to be aware of his moment and situation when predicting possible results.
After being 16th in the first day of tests at Lusail, 0.919s slower than Pecco Bagnaia, Márquez said he is feeling better, while not forgetting that his path will take time as he still retains many of what he did with Honda on his riding: ‘From the beginning I felt more free on the bike, more confident, playing more with my body, and that has already been an improvement. Still, I would have liked to see someone who had ridden the same bike for eleven years. My instinct is the same, but step by step I have to change. I’ve been working on myself all day; and now in the last part we started to work on the setup. But first, I was just working on myself: on my performance, on my riding style and on starting to feel better and better. So we’ll see in the second day, we can take another step’.
Being such a memorable rider, with many titles now aboard one of the best bikes on the grid and which became champion in 2023, there is naturally a lot of expectations on him, with Márquez to ask time and moderation from part of his supporters: ‘I understand the expectations of the fans and I understand that they believe in me. But another point of view is reality. The reality is that I come from a very difficult few years, I need to get my confidence back. I’m trying to understand the bike, because it takes time. And I’m human, the years are passing and the young riders are coming, they are faster, and it’s natural. Every athlete has his moment and then, step by step, you have to understand how to adapt to the situation’.
And continued, looking at the opposition: ‘But of course it will be a difficult season. There are three guys especially, within Ducati, who are riding very well; and I try to learn from them. But it takes time and and it’s difficult; we’ll see if little by little I can be closer to them. But it’s not my goal. If the goal is to try to win, it will be a big frustration’.