Marc Marquez managed to achieve his first podium this season in the fourth series of MotoGP 2024 with the Gresini Racing satellite team. Marquez successfully won second place after competing fiercely with defending champion Francesco Bagnaia until the final round.
In this race, Marquez was involved several times in back-to-back actions with Bagnaia. However, it turns out that Marquez is not fast enough to overtake the two-time world champion riding the 2024 Desmosedici motorbike. With this positive achievement, Marquez can smile with relief after being down for the past two years.
“The important note in this weekend’s match is the speed I have. Even with the first five laps where I lost several positions, I still have the speed to catch up,” he said on Monday (29/4/2024). “The gap between me and Pecco was about one second, and I had the speed to catch him and try to overtake until the last two laps, the temperature of the front tire increased,” continued Marquez.
The sensation of winning first place seemed to create a fighting spirit to race again. However, on last night’s occasion, Marquez chose not to force himself. “I didn’t give up completely, but I didn’t make any extra effort to fight with Bagnaia because the risk was too big not to make three zeros in a row, because yesterday I finished sixth, but had three crashes in one race,” he said.
Marquez continued, his adaptation to the Desmosedici GP23 was also going well. This is proven by the positive results he has achieved since the start of the 2024 season.
He also compared the Ducati motorbike he was riding with the Honda motorbike he had ridden. According to Marquez, the Ducati motorbike allows him to perform better when he is alone. “With the Honda I’m much better behind someone, but with this bike I’m better alone,” said Marquez. “This is something I like. “Let’s see in the next race,” said Marquez.
Unlike Honda, Marquez doesn’t have to follow someone to perform better. “I started well and carefully, especially at the last corner on the first lap. Even though I went wide, I didn’t feel slower than Pecco,” he said again.
