The first fall
Second and final day of testing in Qatar, rather particular for Marc Marquez, for better or for worse. On the one hand, in fact, the Spaniard finished in fourth position, four tenths from Bagnaia's best time, redeeming himself from a Day 1 in which he had only completed the session in 16th place. On the other hand, the eight-time world champion had to deal with one fall during a race pace simulation, which coincides with his first ever ride on a Ducati.
An episode that the former Honda had curiously taken into account, as admitted in an interview with DAZN: “The balance of the pre-season, which is a bit like what we do on the last day, is good, because it was solid and without getting nervous, respecting the time needed to get to know the bike – has explained – it's true that today was the first day I increased the pace, the first day I said: “If I fall, I fall.” AND I actually fell for the first time, but I had to. It was the last day of pre-season and it was time to raise this point. In the race simulation I put myself to the test, because there are points to improve, especially compared to Pecco, Bastianini and Martin, who are the ones I have as a reference in the same factory. We'll see what happens in the GP, even if we're still a little far from these three or four riders who make the difference.”
Furthermore, the Spaniard did not want to make any type of comparison between his 2023 and 2024 Desmosedici: “I don't know if I'll be able to compare with the 24, but I'm not going to think about whether my bike is the 23-24 or the 24-23. With what I have, I will give my best – he clarified – with what I have I will give the best of me. I'm having fun, which is important. We'll see if I'm ahead or not. It's true that you have a better time ahead, but at the moment Pecco, Bastianini and Martin have something more than the others, but today we managed to reduce the gap we had in Malaysia. We still have two or three tenths that will be difficult to reduce.”
The condition of the arm and expectations
In conclusion, Marquez reassured on the condition of his right arm, indicating his expectations for the start of the season: “The arm is responding wellbut it's one arm with four operations that requires more attention than the other and we need to take care of it – he specified – you have to pamper him well, because I was able to have a normal pre-season and I was able to train at home. Here I was doing the race simulation and I crashed on lap 12, but I had planned to do 20 laps, and when you plan like that, it feels really good. Realistically, at the moment we are fighting for fifth or sixth place, but it's very relative, because then you get to the GP, the tires change on the track and everything changes. If there was a race, we would be fourth, fifth or sixth, at best. There are still three riders, who luckily are in the same factory as me, so I can and must learn from them how to get the most out of the bike.”
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