Challenge between champions
There is less and less left until the start of the 2024 MotoGP season and the great curiosity of fans is directed towards what could finally be the great direct challenge between the current owner of the top class, Pecco Bagnaiaand the old king, Marc Marquez. The Spaniard's transfer from Honda to Ducati, albeit in a customer team and with a one-year-old bike, makes the hypothesis of finally witnessing a challenge on equal terms (or almost) between the last two centaurs capable of winning extremely fascinating multiple consecutive titles in MotoGP.
But Marquez and Bagnaia are also brand mates and therefore, from this year, they will have to row – at least partially – in the same direction, for the good of Ducati. The official MotoGP channel managed to 'intercept' avery interesting chat between the two champions which took place during a break during the last pre-season tests in Sepang, which represented Marquez's first real outing wearing the colors of the Gresini team, after the starter in Valencia at the end of 2023.
Technical debriefing
The intense dialogue, which took place in Italian and which we have transcribed below, focused above all on technical differences – experienced by Marquez firsthand and 'perceived' by Bagnaia himself – between Honda and Ducati. Finding himself driving on the track behind his Spanish rival, in fact, the reigning world champion realized how the style of Cervera's #93 still needs to be perfected in order to get the best out of the Desmosedici GP23 that he now finds himself driving .
Bagnaia: “How is she, tough huh? Difficult?”.
Marquez: “Yes but…”
Bagnaia: “She is different”.
Marquez: “Yes, it's different.”
Bagnaia: “I was behind you and I saw you. You're driving it like Honda.”
Marquez: “Yes. I have to understand [come guidarla]. The tire had 22 laps.”
Bagnaia: “Well, you can see it, you could see it [pattinava]”.
Marquez: “I have to figure out how to do the time attack. Because with the Honda you enter the corner and it starts accelerating very early. But this [la Ducati] she is different”.
Bagnaia: “Why doesn't it turn.”
Marquez: “Yes. Time attack is what I have yet to figure out. It's easier on race pace.”
Bagnaia: “Yes because in the end it is firm, it is more stable. Maybe it's a little heavy, but it's stable.”
Marquez: “Heavy no, I don't find it heavy”.
Bagnaia: “When I saw the Honda it seemed to me that it was faster at making changes in direction.”
Marquez: “When they did the last aerodynamic step, no”.
Bagnaia: “The last one?”.
Marquez: “Yes”.
#BagnaiaMarquez #technical #comparison #scenes #Sepang
