Marc Marquez will try to revive his career with Gresini. Former MotoGP star Jorge Lorenzo believes three factors will influence Marquez’s performance.
The Spanish motorbike racing superstar is equipped with a Desmosedici GP23 in MotoGP 2024. This Ducati motorbike was ridden by Francesco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin, the two best racers last season.
Marquez looked promising after finishing fourth at the Valencia test even though he finished sixth at Sepang with a difference of almost 0.6 seconds from Bagnaia (1). The eight-time world champion closed pre-season testing by finishing fourth in the Qatar test with a difference of just 0.383 seconds, again from Bagnaia.
As a result, quite a few people are calling for Marc Marquez to compete with Pecco Bagnaia in the race for the 2024 MotoGP world title. However, Lorenzo believes that whether Marquez is successful or not depends on three factors which include adaptation, comparison of motorbike performance with rivals, and the condition of his arms.
“Well, after a very impressive first day in Valencia, everyone thought Marc would win all the races. However, I didn’t expect it to be like that. As we saw in Sepang, he faced difficulties and I have a few questions for Marc.” Lorenzo said to the MotoGP.com podcast.
“Firstly, how long does it take him [to adapt] to the Ducati because he doesn’t fully understand how to ride the bike yet. He still rides the bike a little like when he rides a Honda bike as what he said to Pecco.”
“Second question, how big is the difference between the GP23 and GP24. How big is the evolution of the Ducati motorbike in a year? Whether the difference is big enough; Jorge Martin and Pecco Bagnaia are not bad racers, they are the two best racers and if they use the same motorbike better than Marc’s bike, who also has no experience with Ducati, this could be the key.”
“The third question is his physical condition. Has his arm really healed or does it still need more time before it functions optimally, or will it never be the same as before? This question is only he knows and his team knows the answer,” Jorge Lorenzo added.
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