Marc Marquez : It Takes Time, Because I’m an Ordinary Human Being!

MOW.com – Ahead of his first season with Ducati, it is clear that expectations for 8-time World Champion Marc Marquez are very high. At the Sepang test, the newcomer from the Gresini team finished 6th overall. And he started well in the first hours of the Qatar test by finishing 3rd. In the end, in the first Qatar test, Marc Marquez only finished in 16th position, 0.919 seconds behind the best time set by his brand mate Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo).

“From the start I felt more confident than at Sepang. I spent most of the time working on my performance and riding style. Only then did we start making changes to the set-up,” said the 31 year old rider.

Marc Marquez : It takes time… Because I’m an ordinary human being..!

However, as usual in tests, individual time records are not the focus of riders and teams. Marquez said, “I understand the fans’ expectations. But the reality is different. I have gone through 4 difficult years. I have to take it slowly and understand the bike. That takes time because I am only human.”

With young talents such as Bagnaia, Jorge Martin (Pramac Ducati) and Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha), many young riders have moved up to the premier class in recent years and are able to compete with riders like Marc Marquez. “The years pass and it is a natural development for a young and very fast rider. Each athlete has his or her own strengths. Then we have to understand how to adapt to new circumstances,” said the older brother of teammate Alex Marquez.

After 11 years at Repsol-Honda, Marc has had to adapt to completely new circumstances this year. Apart from switching from the factory team to the Gresini satellite team, Marquez had to get used to a new product for the first time in his MotoGP career. “Every time I go on a new track, my instincts will remain the same. After 11 years of riding the same motorbike, this is unavoidable,” said the rider nicknamed Baby Alien.

Looking ahead to the upcoming season, the 85-time GP winner asked for patience. “This will certainly be a difficult season. 3 or 4 riders on Ducati in particular, are very strong. It’s not my target to win. Because if that was my target, I would quickly get frustrated,” concluded Marc Marquez.