For Marc Marquez, the Malaysian Grand Prix staged today at the Sepang International Circuit was nothing more than a stage that brings him closer to his arrival at the Gresini Racing team which will take place in the Valencia tests in a few weeks.
The 13th place finish, almost half a minute behind the winner, explains well how the Catalan is trying to give his all in his latest outings as a Honda HRC rider, but also how much he is a prisoner of a situation that has collapsed for a few years now and is destined to change precisely in the tests in the Valencian Community scheduled for the days following the end of the current season.
To confirm how Marc’s attention is now turned to Ducati, here are the first words released at the end of the Malaysian race. It is no coincidence that from his mouth the name of the first motorcycle mentioned was the Ducati.
“I don’t know what to expect from the Valencia tests either. I just finished a race in 13th position, 27 seconds behind the winner. I can’t expect to arrive and have good and bad weather.”
“I have to go with the mentality of arriving in a new team and working, working on the riding style and on myself to get the maximum potential from the bike. And I will do this by concentrating on my garage, but without first testing the bike and doing some Turns I can’t talk.”
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team
However, Marc spoke about the excellent weekend experienced by his brother Alex, his next teammate in Gresini Racing. A comforting performance both on an emotional level, but also in perspective: the Ducati GP23 is competitive and, with this, Marquez can only be satisfied.
“It’s clear that everyone is going strong with the Ducati, we saw it with Bastianini, Bagnaia, my brother Alex, who had by far the best weekend in MotoGP. He was very consistent. Today Bastianini won, but he managed to bring home second place.”
“Yesterday I said to Alex: ‘Today you won the Sprint, but tomorrow you have to go on the podium. You haven’t managed to do it in the dry yet and if you do it it’s a good success. It’s a good basis for next year’, I told him”.
This weekend Honda’s plans related to replacing Marc Marquez for 2024 appear to have changed. Fabio Di Giannantonio, the big favorite to take the place of the 8-time world champion, seems to have been overtaken in preferences by Luca Marini, current rider of the Mooney VR46 Ducati team.
“Luca is a young rider, with experience on a Ducati which at the moment, based on the results, seems to be the best bike on the grid”, commented Marc. “I can see it well. We’ll see. It’s clear that Fabio Di Giannantonio seemed to be the favorite to take my place, but Honda has its own precise strategy.”
It is almost surprising that Marquez’s place could be taken by the brother of one of the most bitter rivals the Catalan has ever had in MotoGP: Valentino Rossi.
“You have to know how to differentiate things. With Luca Marini I’ve always had very respectful, very friendly treatment, we got along well, we talked. You have to know how to differentiate situations. In the past with my brother they weren’t like that. But now they are.”
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