MotoGP | Marquez: “My speed on the Ducati is already different”

It didn't take Marc Marquez too long to take home his first podium with the Gresini Racing Ducati. In a certain sense we can talk about a constant progression, because in Qatar he had already come close, with a fifth and a fourth place, but in Portimao we immediately saw that things could change.

Lusail has never been a track suited to its characteristics, the ups and downs of the Algarve, on the other hand, are one of those that still allow the rider to make the difference and the eight-time world champion today proved that he is still one of the best of the lot . Despite a mistake in qualifying, with a fall that relegated him to eighth place on the grid, in the Sprint he immediately made everyone understand that today they would have to deal with him.

And in the end he achieved a second place, complete with a beautiful overtaking on the last lap against the vice-world champion Jorge Martin, which made him the best of the Ducati riders behind the Aprilia of Maverick Vinales. In short, a Saturday that started uphill, but ended with a beautiful smile for the #93, who for tomorrow's long race can also rely on a race pace that not many of his rivals seem to have.

“I've been having fun all weekend. Let's see tomorrow, but my speed is already different and so is my determination. I'm very happy for the Sprint, but I made a big mistake in qualifying: I didn't make a mistake because I want to go too strong, I made a mistake because I still lack the automatic mechanisms and I activated the lowerer too early. However, these are mistakes which, when you have to start eighth, from the third row, penalize you a lot for the race”, Marquez told Sky Sport MotoGP.

Being able to beat Martin, who knows the Ducati much better than him, was a great satisfaction: “Fighting with Martin is a pleasure, because he is riding the Ducati very well and is a fit rider, so it's already a pleasure. When I attacked it at Turn 5, I saw that there was a possibility and I went in, but you can do this when you have the speed and when you have the confidence. And little by little I'm getting more confident with this Ducati.”

At the same point of the overtaking he had experienced quite a thrill in the early stages of the race, when he was already in second position, finishing long to avoid slipping and being overtaken several times: “Luckily I had fallen yesterday at the same point, because it was identical. This it allowed me to understand that today it was better to go long and lose a few positions. I still need to better understand some of the bike's reactions, but also how to avoid reaching that point.”

Observing it from the outside, however, it seems quite clear that the feeling with the GP23 is growing: “We made a change to the setting this weekend and in the tight corners I feel closer not to the Honda, but to my riding style, which however is created by riding the Honda for 11 years. But I still lose too much in the fast corners. For example, in the last corner I struggle a lot and today I fell at that point without exaggerating, but you always have to be very careful because it can cause you an injury” .