As soon as Marc Marquez’s signing with Gresini was made official, with a view to 2024, Motorsport.com reported that Honda would not pose any obstacles for the Spaniard to ride Ducati in the Valencia tests, the Tuesday following the last race of this season. However, it took a couple of weeks for the Japanese company to make its agreement public, in another sign of both parties’ interest in concluding their relationship as harmoniously as possible.
“I want to thank Honda for allowing me to test the Ducati in Valencia. I didn’t want to go into the winter without trying the bike, but I would have understood. They didn’t give me any problems,” declared a very satisfied Márquez after completing one of the best Sprints of the season so far. The Spanish driver started eighth, from the third row of the grid, and managed to position himself in the group chasing Jorge Martín, who no one managed to catch in the 13 laps completed.
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team
As the laps went by, the Honda rider was able to reposition himself between fifth and sixth place and then finish in fourth position, thanks to two errors that Aleix Espargaró made at the end. This allowed him to overtake the Aprilia rider. On Friday, Márquez had commented that the very short gaps in the group would not allow him to stay close to the leaders, but the pace he showed allowed him to surprise himself and cross the finish line just three and a half seconds behind the winner.
“Today went well, I had the pace and it was better than expected. I took a risk and it went well. It’s true that it’s only a Sprint, it’s a fourth place, but these results are good now because we’re in the last four races of the season. year, and the last four with the team. More than fourth place, it’s the way we fought to get it”, summed up the number 93, indirectly grateful for the mistakes made by Espargaró in the final stages of the race.
“It was Aleix who lost fourth place, I didn’t take it. He made two mistakes, at the first and third corners, which allowed me to enter. Then he overtook me again very well, but at the last corner I gave it back to him and I managed to stop the bike well”, said the Catalan, who, despite the morale boost, doesn’t believe he can repeat this result on Sunday with double the laps: “Tomorrow I won’t be able to take so many risks. For 13 laps it can be done, for 26 it can’t”, said the driver from Cervera.
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