Marco Bezzecchi was anticipated to be a contender for the title in 2024, given his third-place finish in the previous season with three wins aboard his year-old Ducati.
Yet, adapting to the 2023-spec Ducati, which secured the championship last year, has posed challenges for the Italian. At the Qatar Grand Prix, he qualified 15th and could only manage a 14th-place finish in the race.
Bezzecchi’s struggles primarily revolve around a lack of feeling on the front end, a problem reminiscent of his factory counterpart Enea Bastianini’s difficulties with the GP23 last year.
He described his Qatar GP experience, stating, “We had made progress in the warm-up, but during the race, my front end felt compromised, affecting my braking and corner entry. Consequently, I lost entry speed, leading me to compensate by opening the throttle earlier, which prematurely wore out my rear tire.”
Despite the setbacks, Bezzecchi remains determined to overcome these challenges. He emphasized the importance of analyzing data from fellow GP23 riders like the Marquez brothers and his teammate to understand and address his current limitations.
