The eight-time champion, freed from the pressure for his future, starts sixth in Indonesia: “You take a weight off your shoulders by being clear about your future”
“What happened to Bezzecchi, if it goes well, it’s heroic; if it goes wrong, it’s crazy. He had a bad fall and the screw could break there, I know from experience,” says Marc.
Marc Márquez He concluded the first day of testing for the Indonesian MotoGP Grand Prix in sixth position and has acknowledged that after confirming this Thursday that he will race with Gresini’s Ducati next season, he feels relieved of the pressure.
“You take a weight off your shoulders by being clear about your future, but the level and commitment on the track does not change at all, it has been seen in the last two races, which have been very busy in that sense and have been the best of the year. From experience I know how to avoid problems, like last year, of which there were many, and focus only on the track and the way of driving, which does not change,” Marc explained at the end of the session.
“Here today there were conditions similar to India, with little grip, the bike was skidding and this means that the limit is set by the track and the bike cannot be fully squeezed, but in the afternoon the grip has improved and the “seen above the usual ones. It is true that outside of Europe, on Fridays we are more comfortable with tracks with less grip,” pointed out the Repsol Honda rider.
Likewise, Márquez has indicated that tomorrow “Q2 will be very important”, although he does not expect to be on the first line: “And the second will be very complicated.” Confident, Márquez insisted that “the goal today was Q2, we achieved it and tomorrow we will see if we can do the same.”
“In the morning, when I saw the position, I was already surprised because in the second set it left me a lot of room after the fall last year and in the afternoon I already increased the risk at that point. We will have to take one more step , but it is a good pace to be from seventh to tenth, which is our position at the moment,” he added.
New technical team
Also during the day, the head of Team Gresini, Michelle Masini, confirmed that Márquez will have a new crew chief in 2024, the Italian Frankie Carchedi. Marc admits that “it will be strange for me to stop at the box and see the face of someone other than Santi Hernández, it will be very strange, but in life there are changes and you have to adapt”
“Frankie Carchedi is a great coach, with a lot of experience, he was world champion with Joan Mir in 2020 and the commitment will be maximum. We immediately have to adapt to understand each other and get the best possible results,” he assessed.
The Bezzecchi risk
Finally, Márquez has also referred to the case of the Italian Marco Bezzecchi, who has returned to the track just five days after undergoing surgery for a broken clavicle. and this morning it fell to 150 km/h, although it ended the day with the third fastest time. The VR46 driver, who is third in the World Championship, 54 points behind the leader Bagnaia, does not want to miss the championship ‘train’ and has taken a high risk.
“If it goes well, it’s heroic; if it goes wrong, it’s crazy. This is how it goes, but always on the limit, and good luck to him, in the end it’s having the desire to do it and knowing how to take risks. He had an ugly fall because of the morning and then the screw can break, I know it from experience, and it is a hassle because they have to operate again. It has been very brave, without a doubt,” he stressed. Mark.