After a long successful career with Honda, this year Marc Marquez made his debut riding a Ducati, the 2023 bike, which forced him to change his way of riding. From a bike that was often the only one to make competitive, he moved on to the prototype, albeit from an earlier year, which dominated last season.
In the program “Decoded”, which DAZN Spain broadcast as a preview this Wednesday, Alex Criville analyzes this change in style, leading the model they have on set to explain in a graphic way what he said.
“He’s aggressive but his riding is more useful, smoother on the bike,” says Alex Criville about Marquez on the Ducati. “He doesn’t attack the front as much, the position is a little further back to avoid a bit of chatter or to put more load on the rear. Various things where you can see he’s improved a lot.”
Pol Espargaro, now a KTM test rider, agrees: “He has a much higher acceptance of risk than other riders. His riding style has changed a lot compared to the Honda. The position that Marc had at the front, always very advanced, with his elbows open, it allowed him to ‘save’ the bike many times. With the Ducati we see Marc a little further back on the bike, with more weight on the rear.”
Continuing with his x-ray, Criville adds: “Marc’s position on the Honda saw him attack a little more, a little more aggressive. With the Ducati his weight is further back. So he avoids unloading the front end, to bounce and has more traction when exiting corners. It’s as if everything is easier, you see it and say: ‘He’s not going fast, but he’s going fast’.”
Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing
Photo credit: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
“This position allows for a cleaner entry, the rear axle copies well, has good cornering and can even make it turn a little. These are small details, we’re talking about a tenth, two tenths at most,” concluded Criville.
Defining Marquez’s riding style in one word, his former race engineer Santi Hernandez sums up: “His riding style is a spectacle, where a normal person can take a step back, he is the opposite.”
“He was a much more aggressive rider on the bike, the way he reacted to the bike and the way you saw him riding, especially when entering corners, you always saw him moving his body a lot, trying to find his way of positioning himself on the bike to be able to slow down.”
“Now we see a Marc who, under braking, is much more stable, much calmer. We see a more fluid and smooth ride.”
Regardless of the position on the bike and how he approaches the races, Santi Hernandez praises the #93: “I still see a Marc who has his own DNA. I see him calmer, I see that he studies the situation in the race much more, and this experience leads him not to rush in some moments, with more cold blood. The incidents we have seen are part of Marc’s learning process, because he is looking for the limit, he wants to know how far he can go, because he wants to get the best. maximum. I still see a competitive and hungry Marc. The day his DNA changes we will stop seeing Marc and he will be just another rider, but he still has his DNA.”
Jorge Martinez “Aspar”, who spoke about Marquez on DAZN’s “Decoded” program, said: “For me he is still the best rider, it’s not just about the bike. He has a sense of hunger, aggression, desire to to win. To fall, to fall again, to fall again and to win… I think it’s admirable. It means he’s still hungry, he still takes risks and he still wants to win the desire to win.”
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