The MotoGP test day in Valencia was the first time Marc Márquez rode Gresini’s MotoGP Ducati. Consequently, he can enter the winter break knowing a bit more about what to expect from the new bike he will be riding in 2024.
The Spanish rider explained, as quoted by Motosan.es, his initial impressions about the Desmosedici GP23: ‘The feeling from the front is that when I start to go straight, I can’t be aggressive. If I’m aggressive, I lose the front wheel. Then the bike starts to be a bit unstable, especially in the first corner. I have to be slower. But then the way I enter seems like it won’t work because the bike is small. But the confidence exists, I still don’t know when I will lose the front. Especially if you’re very fast, you can’t overload it. If you overload it, with the front, you have to stop with your arms before going. If you go too far, you feel a lot of weight on the back, and the front is a bit slow with the throttle’.
On the other hand, Márquez liked the sensations he experienced with the throttle: ‘In turn three and nine, the throttle is a very good throttle, with a very good feeling, and it’s easy to accelerate, and it’s very comfortable’.
Márquez also stated: ‘You have to wait a bit so that, raised, you accelerate, when accelerating more aggressively. When accelerating, I was waiting for 40 percent of the speed. To release the throttle, I open 30 to 40 percent of the box and try to keep turning, and I feel like I’m going left. I’m going to use the throttle well and take a bit off, take off, take off, take off, and I felt like I didn’t use the rear much. I used it, but not much’.