Many of our visitors asked why Marc Marquez struggled so much on Friday and the start of Saturday’s session. Is it purely because of the low grip of the Barcelona Circuit? The answer is . . Again, because he and Crew Chief Frakie Charcedy changed the motorbike setup significantly. . Just like Le Mans. . But the difference is that this new setup in Catalunya was successful and will continue to be used until the Sprint Session and most likely today’s main race.
So why, if the setup is working, can’t it enter Q2? “The problem with Q1 (Saturday) was that the first time the bike [set-up] was very different. However, in the race pace I kept going and understood how to ride the motorbike. It’s a big change and comes late because tomorrow (today) we start in 14th position, but that setup will use a medium rear tire [not soft] so we’ll see how we can handle it.”
In Sprint races, one of the keys to Marc is a good start. Starting from Position 14, he was already in Position 9 after Turn 2 and started the second lap in Position 8 already with the side winglet due to a small incident with Jak Miller on Lap 1. . With only 1 front winglet, Marc started to advance little by little where with the combination of Marc’s Overtake talent and other causes there were three other racers ahead of him Crash. . he was able to gain 6 more positions to finish in second place, including a battle with rookie Pedro Acosta at the end of the stage.
Especially regarding the loss of one winglet which will definitely affect the balance of the motorbike. Marc said after yesterday’s race “Today will be an interesting analysis for Gigi and his team [because] even without one wing I can ride well. It’s true that the balance of the bike is different but one of my strengths is adapting to the situation. Even so, I still have room to improve in fast laps. But in terms of race pace, I am very close to Martin and Bagnaia.
The difference in my performance between used tires and new tires is smaller compared to other [racers]. They ride very differently. Aleix is extreme, Pedro is extreme, and I’m kind of in the middle. Cornering and entry speeds are very fast. That’s very impressive. I don’t know how much risk he took because he is super fast in that area with a lot of play with his body. He brings a lot of speed and that’s impressive. I tried to imitate him for a few laps but I saw too many risks so I went back to my style.
Today’s main race which can be seen live on Trans7 with Veni, tmcblog and Kang Joni starting at 19:00 will be the next potential for Marc Marquez to win for the first time since Emilia-Romagna 2021 (945 days ago). This will also potentially be Marc’s first Grand Prix win with Ducati and Gresini, although of course it will never be easy
