The six-time MotoGP world champion made his Ducati race debut on Saturday in Qatar within the first dash of the yr, ending fifth after qualifying sixth for Gresini Racing.
Marquez was an element within the podium battle earlier than a late mistake lower him adrift, however he nonetheless mentioned he achieved the purpose he set out for himself forward of the season.
The Qatar GP dash consequence hasn’t altered his feeling that his choice to give up Honda was appropriate, which he was already “totally satisfied” by, and notes that his present type makes issues “much less traumatic” for him.
“For me, it’s the proper choice till the tip,” he mentioned when requested if his Qatar dash consequence validated his choice for him.
“After I took the choice I used to be totally satisfied and I’m [still] satisfied. And what I mentioned on Thursday, my goal is to attempt to combat in these prime six positions.
“Why? As a result of if you end up combating there you’re feeling aggressive. You’ll be able to win or not; to be world champion it’s essential to be exact in lots of elements.
“However a minimum of if you’re combating in that prime 5 place, prime six place, you’re feeling aggressive and the weekends are shorter. Shorter and simpler and even much less traumatic.
“That is one thing that right here in Qatar, which was one of many nightmares of the earlier years, this yr I’m having fun with, I used to be in a position to be in QP2 alone, then the primary time assault I used to be fully [on track] and I used to be in these prime 4 positions. So, that is one thing that I actually like.”
Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing
Photograph by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Pictures
When requested the way it felt to race a Ducati in comparison with the Honda, he added: “Simpler. You overtake on the straight after which it’s simpler. Particularly you arrive into the brake factors a bit nearer.
“So, yeah, I used to be in a position to overtake two, three riders at this time and I used to be in a position to be in that combat.
“However after all you want the pace. Velocity means lap time, and nonetheless in that time I would like two, three tenths that for instance [Jorge] Martin, [Francesco] Bagnaia, Aleix [Espargaro] [had].”
Marquez spoke on Friday about how he was nonetheless discovering his Honda instincts taking up, and that was the case once more in qualifying on Saturday, however was in a position to management this higher within the dash.
“Yeah, [it] affected [me] just a little bit within the qualifying follow,” he mentioned about driving the Ducati like a Honda.
“Within the final sector I experience by intuition as a result of I noticed I used to be coming super-fast and I misplaced a couple of tenths as a result of I exaggerated an excessive amount of in a single nook I did Honda-style. And it’s not doable [to do this on a Ducati].
“And within the race, I used to be in a position to management extra myself. It’s true that I did a mistake the place I predicted I might do a mistake, which was the primary lap whenever you don’t have the boldness with the bike and you’re with different riders, you then can not assault such as you need.
“We went into a wierd combat with [Fabio] Di Giannantonio with many overtakes within the first lap, and we misplaced time. However once I overtook him, I began to go in entrance and I felt okay.”
