It’s a little bit after 11am on Tuesday morning of 28 November on the Circuit Ricardo Tormo. The media mass is assembled exterior of the Gresini Racing storage, and has been for effectively over an hour – arms frozen, faces overwhelmed by a biting wind beneath a chilly and overcast sky.
Technically, that is the start of the 2024 season. And thus, the start of Marc Marquez’s time as a Ducati rider. To say this is among the greatest and most vital take a look at days within the final 10 years can be one thing of an understatement. Therefore the swell of our bodies surrounding the satellite tv for pc Gresini staff’s storage.
At 11:14am, Marquez throws his leg over the GP23 he’ll race subsequent yr – the bike having been wheeled out of Johann Zarco’s Pramac field on Sunday night and into Gresini’s – and was on his method for his first MotoGP laps in 11 years on one thing that wasn’t a Honda.
He completes eight laps on his first run on the Ducati, the very best of which a 1m30.683s. On the time, it put him third within the standings. The place was immaterial. The time, nonetheless, was telling. It was simply over two tenths shy of the 1m30.414s he posted as his quickest lap of an albeit brief Valencia Grand Prix on the Honda final Sunday.
What mattered extra, although, was his response when he returned to his seat in his new storage alongside crew chief Frankie Carchedi: a flash of a smile, internally a better sense of aid? The latter we gained’t know till 1 January 2024, when his contract with Honda proscribing him and the staff from saying a lot expires.
“The day was superb,” Gresini sporting director Michele Masini instructed the media on Tuesday after the take a look at. “The vital factor is the sensation. The sensation was there, the environment was there. We’re a bit drained from this lengthy season, however after immediately we can’t wait to begin 2024.
“You already know about [the] contract, I can’t say extra, however I believe immediately the timesheet can communicate.”
Picture by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Photographs
Underlining the importance of the take a look at, there was no scarcity of observers within the pitlane for Marquez’s first time on the Ducati
Certainly, it did. Marquez accomplished 49 laps in whole on the GP23. In run three he improved to a 1m30.222s. On run seven, he posted a 1m29.460s. At 3:21pm, the media centre overlooking the beginning/end straight erupted when the eight-time world champion tripped the timing beam and shot to the highest of the timesheet.
Arguably, there was extra emotion and keenness in that second than there was in that room all through the whole title-deciding weekend. A 1m29.424s would observe on his forty sixth lap, placing him simply two tenths shy of the time that put him ninth on the grid on the Honda final weekend. Had that been a qualifying effort, it might have put him tenth. On the finish of the take a look at, he was fourth and simply 0.171s off the tempo. His deficit to the main Ducati of Marco Bezzecchi (on the identical GP23) in third was a mere 0.093s.
He additionally ended the day with none crashes, having had his time with Honda reduce brief by a private file twenty ninth crash of the season within the Valencia GP after a tangle with Jorge Martin. This implies two issues: Marquez’s confidence within the Ducati’s front-end is sweet, and that he wasn’t pushing to his true restrict. The latter reality is one thing his rivals might be pondering on over the winter. All of this can be a far cry to the earlier take a look at in 2023, when Honda’s 2024 prototype was met lukewarmly by Marquez and the writing over his future with HRC was on the wall.
In sector three, Marquez set the general quickest at 21.215s. Sector three includes Flip 7 to the exit of Flip 11, Marquez seemingly gaining at Flip 8 the place you cost on the brakes with some lean earlier than arcing spherical a left-handed hairpin
On face worth, none of this will seem to be a lot. And certainly, there are caveats to contemplate. The grip on monitor on Tuesday – albeit overlayed with some Pirelli rubber from the day past’s Moto2/Moto3 take a look at – had a substantial quantity of Michelin rubber on it from the race weekend. In testing, no person’s run plans are straightforward to position and never everybody did time assault laps. As Bezzecchi put it, testing at Valencia typically “means shit”.
Assessing Marquez’s first take a look at on the Ducati, subsequently, is troublesome. However there are specific metrics to contemplate that present that Marquez’s type was critical and this take a look at for him genuinely mattered.
Two comparisons to take a look at in MotoGP historical past have repeatedly been introduced up over the previous couple of months since Marquez introduced he was quitting Honda a yr early to pursue his confidence-rebuilding transfer to Gresini Ducati. The primary is Valentino Rossi’s first take a look at on the manufacturing facility Ducati in 2010 following his swap from Yamaha.
Rossi was fifteenth out of 17 riders and 1.8s off the tempo. Rossi was carrying a shoulder harm on the time and the Desmosedici again then was nothing just like the bike it’s now. Nonetheless, in two years on the Ducati Rossi scored simply three podiums and would later admit that this profession transfer was a mistake.
Picture by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Photographs
Marquez saved issues clear in his first day with Gresini and was near the highest of the Ducati pile
Then there’s Jorge Lorenzo’s first journey on the Ducati in 2016 within the Valencia take a look at. The three-time world champion’s first method with the Ducati was much more constructive. He was eighth on the finish of the second day of working and solely 0.769s off the tempo. Lorenzo endured a troublesome 2017 debut season for the Italian marque, scoring three podiums, however would win thrice in 2018 earlier than becoming a member of Honda the yr after.
Marquez, then, is already nearer on tempo than both Rossi and Lorenzo had been. Nonetheless, Marquez is on a motorbike that gained the world championship with Francesco Bagnaia, and so is effectively dialled in. But Rossi, Lorenzo and Marquez had been all simply attending to grips with the bike of their first checks and never diving too deeply into their machines’ settings.
Largely, the above comparability – if nonetheless value noting – means not quite a bit. However the extra pertinent parallel is the very best sector instances from Tuesday’s take a look at. In sector three, Marquez set the general quickest at 21.215s. Sector three includes Flip 7 to the exit of Flip 11, Marquez seemingly gaining at Flip 8 the place you cost on the brakes with some lean earlier than arcing spherical a left-handed hairpin. Earlier than 2023, it was on the brakes and in left-handers the place Marquez actually outclassed the Honda and his rivals.
“I checked the information earlier than being right here [to speak to the media] to see Marc’s type and it was actually good from the beginning,” manufacturing facility Ducati rider Enea Bastianini noticed. “It has been actually early for him to be quick, as a result of the Ducati for this can be a good bike for the primary impression.
“After, I noticed additionally his time assault and it was actually good. In all probability he’s the Ducati rider a lot quicker in Flip 8. He’s spectacular in that nook. Then for the remaining, regular. I’m curious to see how the subsequent season, as a result of if that is difficult, then the subsequent one might be extra difficult for everyone.”
On Tuesday forward of the take a look at, Ducati’s common supervisor Gigi Dall’Igna conceded Marquez was not wished by the Italian producer. However now he’s right here, his suggestions might be of nice curiosity. On Monday, Ducati sporting director Davide Tardozzi instructed Motorsport.com that Marquez will “increase the extent” in Ducati and even guess that he can be quickest within the take a look at. Virtually.
None of his fellow rivals had been significantly stunned by Marquez’s tempo. Bagnaia famous that “I believe he could be very pleased, glad with our bike”, whereas Fabio Quartararo appropriately predicted Marquez’s 1m29.4s lap. Whether or not you purchase into what we noticed in Valencia testing or want concrete affirmation subsequent yr when racing begins, what is evident is that Marquez’s Ducati debut was in each facet a hit.
Picture by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Photographs
Early indications counsel that Marquez’s adaption to the Ducati is progressing properly
Marquez’s physique language has stated quite a bit over the previous yr throughout his nadir with Honda. Within the Valencia take a look at, it instructed a brand new story. When Motorsport.com requested Masini if he’d seen a real shift in his temper over the course of seven hours on 28 November, he stated merely: “I’ve seen…”
Lap instances are one factor, but it surely’s what preceded them that really contextualises his take a look at. A badly damaged arm in a Spanish GP crash in 2020, 4 operations, two bouts of diplopia and two winless campaigns pressured him to depart behind his prolonged household at Honda to tackle a problem that, if it fails, will do considerably extra harm to his profession and status than staying at HRC for the ultimate yr of his contract would ever have.
Since his transfer to Gresini was introduced, Marquez has all the time maintained that profitable was by no means the precedence: it was merely about rediscovering his pleasure of driving once more and eradicating doubts the final 4 years had hammered into him. After the Valencia take a look at, it’s starting to appear to be each of these issues have already been achieved.
Picture by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Photographs
If Marquez can rediscover his type on the Ducati, the 2024 MotoGP season guarantees to be stuffed with speaking factors
