In MotoGP, Marquez, who used to ride for Honda, has quickly adapted to his new Ducati bike. He’s been doing well in races, getting on the podium four times out of six races, including the last two races.
However, he’s been facing a challenge in qualifying. In the last three races, he had to fight back from poor qualifying positions to reach the podium. In the recent race in Barcelona, he didn’t make it to the top qualifying session, starting 14th on the grid.
Marquez spoke to the media after the race and explained that he’s been struggling with new tires since preseason testing. He feels better on the tires after a few laps, but starting on fresh tires is difficult for him.
He said, “When it’s completely new tires, I’m struggling. I was struggling a lot already in the preseason. Then I was able to compensate a bit in the first races, but then again now I’m struggling with new tires and it’s something that we need to work on very deeply because if we start on the first two rows, or first three rows, it’s another race.”
During the sprint race on Saturday, Marquez had a tough time with the new soft rear tire at the start. He felt like he might crash, but eventually, he found his pace and started to catch up with others.
He mentioned making significant changes to his bike setup on Saturday, which helped him perform well in the sprint race. However, this setup change made it difficult for him during qualifying.
Marquez explained, “The problem of Q1 was it was the first time attack with that set-up and it was very different. But on the race pace, I kept going and I understood how to ride that bike because it was a big change.”
Despite starting 14th on the grid, Marquez remains optimistic about his race pace and hopes to manage well with the medium rear tire during the race.
