Marquez ‘not at limit’ of Ducati despite strong Qatar MotoGP debut

The eight-time grand prix world champion finished fourth in last Sunday’s grand prix at Losail, having scored a fifth place in the sprint and sixth in qualifying.

FEATURE: How Qatar MotoGP debut proved Marquez’s Ducati switch is already paying off

Over the distance of the grand prix, Marquez’s average lap pace on his GP23 was just 0.160s down on dominant race winner Francesco Bagnaia on the 2024 factory-spec Ducati.

Marquez continued to urge patience in his adaptation to the Ducati and insists he is still far from reaching the limit of the bike.

“First grand prix for Ducati, of course it was a solid weekend, like I did in the pre-season,” he said. “Solid days, trying not to exaggerate, trying not to make any mistakes, trying to be calm in all situations, don’t be crazy.

“As I said on Thursday, the expectation is super high but I keep going with my style.

“I want to be patient this year, I want to enjoy again, I want to fight for the top five positions and it’s what I do this weekend. But yeah, I enjoyed it. Still every day I improve my riding style, every day I change a few things that help a little bit.

“Still, I believe that I don’t arrive on the limit of the bike.”

The only other Ducatis ahead of Marquez at the chequered flag were the factory GP24s of Bagnaia and third-placed Pramac runner Jorge Martin.

While the GP24 has taken a clear step forward from its predecessor, Marquez didn’t want to pin bike differences on him not reaching the podium in Qatar.

“No, they are faster,” he said of Bagnaia and Martin. “One is the world champion and the other one is second [in the championship in 2023].

“And they are much faster than the others last year in the second part. So, I don’t think it’s just the GP24.

“I have my bike, I have my tools and when I signed my contract I already knew what I will have. So, the bike is working well and the bike is that one.”