Those expecting a spectacular start to the MotoGP superstar’s season shouldn’t be disappointed – it’s a case of all in good time as he continues to find his feet
LEWIS DUNCAN
M arc Marquez’s first MotoGP outing on a Ducati went as well as it could have. That might not seem like much when taken at face value. Fifth in the sprint and fourth in the grand prix last weekend at Losail are not the results many were hoping for when the six-time MotoGP champion jumped on the all-conquering Ducati. But let’s put that into context. For 11 years, Marquez rode the Honda RC213V. His riding style has developed around it. On the Ducati, he’s had just nine days, so fourth is not too shabby.
“We analysed a lot of things to try to manage the start, it was better today,” he said after the Qatar Grand Prix. “Then I was able to manage the tyres. The thing was yesterday I struggled and today most of the riders were managing the rear, but I was managing the front more than the rear because every year with the other bike I was struggling a bit with the front tyre in this race track.
“Anyway, I need to improve my riding style in some points because still I’m not riding well. But today the race was constant, solid. I did my attack in the last eight laps, and when I did the attack, it was when I started to push more with the front and I finished the front tyre, and the last two laps I gave up because I saw the chance to crash and the chance to take two more points, three more points… I preferred to finish fourth and wait for two weeks in Portimao.”
All-out glory was something Marquez never considered for his Ducati debut. That much was clear back in October when news of his move to Gresini Racing was made official. This exercise has always been about discovering if he can still be the rider he used to be after four years in the wilderness at Honda with numerous injury woes and a tricky bike. The ‘old’ Marquez was more prominent last weekend. The smile was back, the swagger on the bike was back and, as a result, the speed was there, even at a track he has found to be one of his weaker ones.
If we dig into the details, the numbers offer a glimpse of where Marquez is in his Ducati development. In qualifying, he was sixth with 1m50.961s. With the Losail track in great condition since a resurfacing last year, lap times were at record pace. Marquez was just 0.172 seconds off the pole time set by Jorge Martin on the latest-spec factory Ducati in Pramac colours. Marquez was fastest in the
