Marc Marquez Must Learn from Francesco Bagnaia

Jakarta, Beritasatu.com – MotoGP racer who is currently defending the Gresini team, Marc Marquez, admits he has to learn from last season's champion Francesco Bagnaia.

The Spanish racer admitted he was very satisfied with fourth place on his debut at the Gresini Ducati MotoGP in Qatar. However, he also knows exactly which riders he needs to study ahead of this weekend's second round in Portimao.

The Spaniard crossed the Lusail line as the top GP23 rider, 3.429 seconds behind reigning champion and factory Ducati race winner Francesco Bagnaia. He is also 1.496 seconds behind Jorge Martin who occupies the last place on the podium.

“I was on the podium. I almost bridged the gap with Martin. However, (in essence) this is good. “If at the Valencia test they told me that I would finish fourth today, I would have signed it,” said Marquez.

The six-time MotoGP champion stated that Lusail was not his favorite circuit, so fourth place was a good result. “We will analyze the data now: Bagnaia finished three seconds ahead of us and he is the defending champion. “It is from him that we need to learn to further improve standards,” he explained.

KTM's Brad Binder was another rider on the podium in Qatar after coming in second. The next best GP23 rider was Marc's younger brother and teammate Alex, who finished sixth, 3.362 seconds adrift of the number 93 rider.

While Marquez only rode a one year old motorbike, Bagnaia and Martin rode a GP24 with the latest Ducati specifications. But he emphasized that was not the reason they beat him in Qatar.

“That's not the reason. They are indeed faster. One is world champion, and the other is second place. And they are much faster than the others last year in the second half of the season,” said Marquez.

The 31 year old motorbike racer was not the only factor that made Bagnaia and Martin excel in Qatar. “I have a motorbike, I have equipment, and when I signed the contract, I already knew what I was going to have. “So the bike works well and they ride better than me,” explained the racer, who finished 14th last season.

Nevertheless, Marquez emphasized that he would continue his racing style. He wants to be patient this year and wants to enjoy it again. He wants to fight for the top five, and that's what he did in Qatar.

“Every day I improve my riding style, every day I change some things that help a little, so I remain confident that I have not reached the limits of my bike,” he said.

Marquez took pole position and a Sprint podium as a Repsol Honda rider at Portimao last season, but collided with Miguel Oliveira early in the race and injured them both.

This year's MotoGP Series 2 race will be held at the Portimao Circuit, Portugal. The race will start with free practice starting Friday (22/3/2024). The main race will be held on Sunday (24/3/2024).