It is always inevitable to note that Marc Marquez has won only once in Lusail since he debuted in MotoGP in 2013. It happened the year after his debut, in 2014 in which he scored ten consecutive victories in the first ten races of the season. That era is now a very distant memory, because the situation the Spaniard is experiencing now has nothing to do with the one back then, in which he seemed invincible.
However, Qatar looks better than expected. In fact, Marquez finished the first day of testing in tenth position, a circumstance which allowed him to qualify directly for Q2 tomorrow. He hasn’t been able to do it since Indonesia, four grand prix ago. This, in the worst case scenario, would place him in 12th position, the fourth row of the grid. Nothing to do with the 20th place he had to occupy last week in Malaysia.
“This season it’s a challenge to get into Q2 and doing so on Friday is a relief. Two less laps I will have to do in Q1, which for me is the worst test of all. The position on the starting grid affects you a lot and, if it goes badly, I start 12th and that’s good for me”, sums up Marquez, who remained just under half a second behind Raul Fernandez, fastest of the day.
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team
However, the eight-time world champion took issue with Lusail’s new asphalt, which was renovated for the first time since 2004 (its debut year). For this reason and being in the desert, grip was poor in the first session, with lap times more than three seconds below the all-time record set in 2021.
Overall, Losail’s new surface was met with widespread acclaim from the drivers, although some of them experienced difficult times when attempting starts on the pit straight. However, Marc Marquez fears that there could be accidents in both races this weekend if the grid is not cleaned. “It’s a bit of a dangerous thing, especially for MotoGP,” he said of the dirty grid.
“For me, if they manage to clean the main straight, it will be good, because the problem is that if one of the first in the standings releases the clutch and does a great lap, the bike will stop a lot and the speed difference is notable. So , it’s one of the things that, if they can, they must try to clean up, because otherwise some of us will turn around in the race.”
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