Метка: Marc Marquez

Marquez no longer lagging far behind Bagnaia, Martin in MotoGP

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Gresini’s Marc Marquez says he is no longer two or three steps behind MotoGP title contenders Francesco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin after displaying strong pace in Friday practice for the Austrian GP.

On the short 10-corner Spielberg circuit, Marquez posted a time of 1m28.858s on his Ducati GP23 bike in second practice to finish fourth-fastest, trailing pacesetter Bagnaia by just 0.350s.

More impressively, he lapped within half a tenth of Pramac duo Franco Morbidelli and Martin, who were second and third respectively at the end of the hour-long session.

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It was a massive departure from the form he has shown in recent rounds, where he started on the back foot on Friday before gradually finding more pace to be competitive on race day.

Having finally managed to be on the pace immediately at the start of the race weekend, as he had prioritised after the British Grand Prix, Marquez feels he has now significantly closed the gap to MotoGP’s frontrunners in Austria.

“I was struggling a lot on the race pace and did mistakes [in FP1], because we had a similar problem to Austin with the brakes, but then the team with experience of Austin did a step in the afternoon and the feeling was much better,” he explained.

“Also, they gave me some tips on the riding style and then I was able to attack and that makes me a bit more constant on the race pace.

“I felt good. The feeling with the bike was much better than the last races. In fact, in the last races I felt we were two, even three steps behind the top guys and in this race at the moment we are one step behind the top guys. So this is already a good sign.”

Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing

Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Despite scoring four grands prix podiums so far in 2024, including three in a row between Jerez and Barcelona, Marquez has yet to stand on the top step of the podium with Ducati.

While admitting that this was one of the best Fridays he has enjoyed so far, the six-time champion still feels he is not in the same group as Bagnaia and Martin at Spielberg.

Asked if he believes he has a shot at winning the Austrian GP, a race he never won during his time at Honda, the Spaniard said: “No. I will like to say yes but unfortunately [not].

“It’s true that we are closer and I feel like one step behind Bagnaia and Martin, who are the top guys.

“Then we are the second group with Morbidelli, Bastianini and me. So let’s see if tomorrow I can work with the small details and be a bit more constant.”

While Ducati has generally gone around well in Austria, with seven of its eight runners finishing inside the top 10, Marquez also believes tyres are playing a role in his improved form at the circuit.

Spielberg is one of the three tracks where Michelin is bringing a different profile of tyres, providing relief to those riders that haven’t fully gelled with its standard 2024 rubber.

“For me with this tyre, I feel more natural,” he said. “With the new rear tyre they brought this year [for the majority of the season but not Spielberg], the new technology, I don’t feel it in a natural way from the edge to the traction.

“I feel like [it’s] changing a lot the grip between one and [the other tyre type], it’s like two different tyres. But with this one it’s much more natural, and for me the movement of the bike is more predictable.”

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Ducati boss willing to receive criticism on Marquez MotoGP choice

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Ducati general manager Gigi Dall’Igna says he is willing to accept the criticism aimed at the Italian marque for hiring six-time MotoGP champion Marc Marquez in 2025.

The decision to sign former Honda star Marquez to partner protege Francesco Bagnaia next year has always been ‘divisive’ in the words of Dall’Igna, but the topic was reignited again this month when Enea Bastianini romped to victory in the British GP on the factory GP24.

Earlier, the backlash stemmed from the consequences of losing last year’s runner-up Jorge Martin and its long-standing team Pramac to rivals, but now many believe that Bastianini has also been hard done by in the rider market shuffle.

Dall’Igna reiterated that Ducati faced a difficult choice when it came to choosing its second factory seat for 2025, but he can take criticism from anyone who thinks the marque did not act in its best interests.

«I am very happy for Enea. Unfortunately, we had to choose a rider from three options, but all of them would have deserved to ride for the factory team,” he told Sky Sport Italy.

“As I have always said, it was a very difficult choice from a professional and sporting point of view, but also from a human point of view. 

“It is clear that I am also here to receive criticism, and I accept it as I should.”

Ducati feared that Marquez could switch to another manufacturer in 2025 after he refused its offer to join Pramac on factory equipment. This is what ultimately led Ducati to offer him a seat that seemed destined to go to Martin and forced the latter to take his option at Aprilia.

Bastianini has also been dropped by the Borgo Panigale marque as a result of Marquez’s signing and has since agreed a deal with KTM to ride a factory-spec RC16 at the rebranded Tech3 team.

The Italian’s relationship with Ducati hasn’t broken down in the same way as Martin’s had, but he took the opportunity after his Silverstone triumph to question the decision to not retain him next year.

“I don’t understand the choice of Ducati because they have lost two riders like me and Jorge, but I respect this decision,” he said.

“About KTM, I think it will be a good bike for me but I never tried this bike. I have seen it many times on track, but if you don’t try you can’t explain better if it has stronger points compared to Ducati or not, but let’s see.”

Enea Bastianini, Ducati Team

Enea Bastianini, Ducati Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

With Ducati riders having won all but one grand prix between them in the first half of the season, the odds are in its favour to continue its dominance next year.

That is despite the marque going down from having eight bikes on the grid this year to just six in 2025, with only three of them being built to the latest specifications.

But Dall’Igna wouldn’t be drawn when asked about how competitive the new GP25 will be against its opposition next year.

«Every year is a whole new book, so at the end of the year we will close the 2024 one and open the 2025 one, which will depend so much on how the various teams work over the winter,” he said.

“We already have ideas that we are developing, but you never know what the others will be able to do, what they have to fire in their cannon.

«The most important thing is to ‘survive’ the current year and then think about the next one. I am happy with the bike’s performance, we have been on a good level for years and I hope to continue like this.”

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Rossi hits out at Ducati’s decision to sign Marquez for factory MotoGP team

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MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi has lashed out at Ducati for signing Marc Marquez to its factory MotoGP team in 2025, saying the consequences of the decision are immense.

The seven-time premier class champion believes Ducati should have given an opportunity to a rider from its existing pool of talent to partner Francesco Bagnaia next season instead of going after Gresini rider Marquez.

The Italian manufacturer did initially select Jorge Martin to replace Enea Bastianini in its line-up, but Marquez’s reluctance to join Pramac next year forced it to make a U-turn on its original choice and hand the seat to the six-time champion instead.

Martin then made a brave decision to leave Ducati’s stable altogether and move to Aprilia, while Pramac also ended its relationship with the Borgo Panigale marque to join forces with Yamaha.

Speaking on this matter for the first time, Rossi, who had a tumultuous relationship with Marquez during their time together in MotoGP, criticised Ducati for prioritising the fame and previous success of the Spaniard when it could have opted for a rider from its own fold.

“I didn’t quite understand it,” he told L’Équipe. “Ducati had an interesting system in place, with a pyramid that allowed young riders to progress.

“So Pecco was brought on board, and both Martin and Marco Bezzecchi were also waiting for him. And suddenly Ducati decided to bring Marc in.

Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team, Valentino Rossi, Yamaha Factory Racing

Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team, Valentino Rossi, Yamaha Factory Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

“It’s normal that [the riders] feel betrayed. From one moment to the next they no longer count, so I’m not surprised that they consider the choice of Marquez to be a joke.

“The consequence of that [the signing of Marquez] is the breaking of the alliance with Pramac.”

Ducati’s protege Bagnaia will be pitted directly against Marquez next year, and many think it will be a major test for the Italian, who has now solidified his position as the most successful rider in the manufacturer’s history.

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But Rossi, who knows Bagnaia well from the time the latter raced for his VR46 team in Moto2, thinks the 27-year-old is prepared to have such a strong rider as his team-mate in 2025.

“Pecco is ready. He is making a difference and has managed to raise the bar,” Rossi said. “He’s a two-time [MotoGP] world champion and he’s fighting for a third title, but in my opinion he didn’t need Marc in the box to prove he’s number one.”

Rossi maintains a close relationship with Ducati, with VR46 getting promoted to factory-supported status in 2025 and getting one GP25 bike as part of its deal.



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Possible to fight with «super fast» Ducati GP24s on some MotoGP tracks

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Gresini rider Marc Marquez believes the way to challenge Ducati’s new «super fast» GP24 bikes at some MotoGP tracks demands a strong start to the weekend.

Facing an ever-larger gap to the factory-spec machines on his GP23, Marquez has managed to stand on the podium just once in the last four rounds, with factory rider Enea Bastianini’s improved form making it harder to break inside the top three.

This month’s British Grand Prix was another demonstration of the step Ducati has made with this year’s MotoGP bike, with the podium locked out by three riders on the latest-spec GP24. Even Pramac’s Franco Morbidelli was able to propel himself into the top 10 despite getting two long-lap penalties for an incident in the sprint race.

Marquez said the way Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro and his own brother Alex went from winning races at Silverstone last year to finishing sixth and seventh in 2024 is a clear indication that the GP24 has left its competitors behind.

But the six-time MotoGP champion believes that if he and Gresini prepare correctly, there is still a chance to put up a fight to the newest Desmosedicis, especially at those tracks where the bike’s advantage is muted.

«It’s not related to the rear tyre, it’s related to the evolution of the bikes,» he said when asked if the GP24 was adapting better to the new tyres introduced by Michelin this year.

«If you see last year at this racetrack, my brother Alex and Fabio Di Giannantonio, they were the fastest guys on the race track and Aleix won with Aprilia.

Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing Team

Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

«And [this year] I finished in front of Aleix’s Aprilia, I finished in front of Diggia, I finished in front of my brother Alex [but still only fourth].

«In the end, the performance is there, but it looks like the ’24 bikes at some race tracks are super fast. Especially in this one where you have long straights with the rear [height] device, with more top speed, the difference is a bit bigger.

«But as we showed on Sunday, if we work in a good way, this weekend we were a bit delayed, we can be on a good level to fight with them — but always on the limit.»

Finishing fourth last Sunday, Marquez’s deficit to race winner Bastianini was 6.9s after 20 laps around the Silverstone circuit.

The 31-year-old feels he needs to improve his speed by at least two-to-three-tenths in order to put up a more equal fight to his rivals from the factory Ducati and Pramac teams.

«At the moment, on average we are four, five seconds slower in the race,» he said. «So we need to improve more than two-three tenths per lap if we want to fight with them.

«It doesn’t look so bad but it’s a lot. So that will be difficult but our target is to one more time be on that top five-four, and if we can, fight for the podium as we did in other races.»

Marquez is currently in his first season with the satellite Gresini squad after ending his tenure at Honda with a year left on his contract.

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Although the Spaniard has stated in the past that he has completed his adaptation to the GP23, he explained that it still takes time to get the best out of the bike at every track.

This is why he believes it is important for him to be on the pace straight away in Friday practice after admitting that he felt «lost» on the first day of track action at Silverstone last weekend.

«It’s the first year,» he said. «When you have one bike and you arrive first year at a circuit, you know the bike and you know the circuit.

«At some race tracks we start like Jerez and we don’t touch anything, but here [at Silverstone] we start with our base but we change the bike completely. And in the end, we improved.

«You don’t know [if we will need to make changes to the bike]. It’s always a question mark. We always try to be ready in two different ways but in FP1 sometimes it is difficult to understand.»



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Sprint crash was still weighing on me

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Marc Marquez has explained why he didn’t hunt down MotoGP champion Francesco Bagnaia for the final spot on the British Grand Prix podium, saying his crash in the sprint was still weighing on him.

Gresini rider Marquez was running in fourth place in the final five laps of the Silverstone MotoGP race, with Ducati rival Bagnaia the only hurdle between him and a fifth rostrum of the season.

While the Italian was playing it safe towards the end of the race and was hence vulnerable to attack, Marquez chose to consolidate his position instead of closing the gap to him.

The six-time champion said while Bagnaia was within his reach on Sunday, he didn’t want his Silverstone weekend to end in a double DNF, having already retired from the sprint with a fall on the penultimate lap.

“Without the crash of Saturday, maybe the podium was possible — or another crash, you never know,” he said.

“When I overtook Aleix [Espargaro], I just pushed two, three laps to open a gap and then I was controlling [the pace] more behind Pecco for my mentality, because I cannot make two mistakes in the same way, Saturday and Sunday.

“For that reason I said I prefer to finish and to have a good feeling for [the next round in] Austria than to arrive there without good confidence.”

Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing Team

Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Marquez had started the British GP weekend on the back foot and admitted he was feeling “lost” on Friday, having to take a tow from Pramac’s Jorge Martin in order to earn a safe passage into Q2.

He again needed the aid of slipstream in qualifying when Saturday’s action began, although this tactic ended up backfiring when he got stuck behind the slower VR46 bikes of Fabio di Giannantonio and Marco Bezzecchi.

A fourth-place seemed certain in the sprint following Bagnaia’s early exit, but with just two laps to go Marquez tucked the front at Vale and hit the deck, suffering yet another DNF in 2024.

Sunday’s race was easily the 31-year-old’s most competitive showing of the weekend, as he overtook the slow-starting Brad Binder, brother Alex Marquez and Espargaro to rise from seventh to fourth.

The Spaniard said being able to lap at the same pace as the frontrunners in the early part of the race was the “best surprise” for him, given how far adrift he had been for much of the three days at Silverstone.

He said: “Honestly speaking, [fourth place] was a great surprise because the [main] thing of the weekend is that we were always on delay.

“Then in the warm-up we tried something that helps me a bit more, for that reason I was able to keep the pace with the front riders in the beginning of the race so this was the best surprise for me.

“I never have been quick and fast with the medium rear tyre and medium front, but I feel super good in the race.

“I was quite conservative in the end because the mistake from Saturday was in my shoulder [sic].”

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Espargaro, Marquez join Bagnaia in slamming «dangerous» towing in MotoGP qualifying

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MotoGP stars Aleix Espargaro and Marc Marquez have criticised riders slowing down in qualifying to position themselves behind faster bikes, saying it could lead to “dangerous” situations.

The debate over towing in MotoGP was reignited on Saturday at Silverstone as a number of riders ran in a group on their second runs in order to gain an aerodynamic advantage on the circuit’s three long straights.

While slipstreaming in itself does not necessarily pose a safety issue, qualifying for the British Grand Prix saw many riders get down to crawling speeds to allow their rivals to get through, before picking up the speed and latching behind them.

This led to some bizarre scenes as the clock ticked down to zero, with Aprilia’s Espargaro taking advantage of the situation to claim his first pole of the year, having managed to get a clean lap without anyone running close to him.

Reigning champion Francesco Bagnaia was the first to express his frustration with the way the grid-deciding session was held at Silverstone, saying nothing will change until the rulemakers intervene.

Despite benefitting from Bagnaia’s troubles, Espargaro joined the Italian in slamming riders for creating a “ridiculous” problem in qualifying, while warning about the dangers associated with slowing down unnecessarily on track.

The poleman said: “In qualifying you can take two risks. The first one is to go out [as the] first one [on track] because everybody is going to follow you, you are in the mix with everybody.

“Or the second one is to wait [and] go last, but then if there is a yellow flag you ruin your lap.

Aleix Espargaro, Aprilia Racing Team

Aleix Espargaro, Aprilia Racing Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

“I took the second one. I don’t like to go behind others. I like to go by myself.

“I agree with Pecco. For me it is ridiculous that riders are waiting in the garage all the time for a tow.

“It’s ridiculous to see five, six riders — and it’s always the same riders — in the middle of the track that are waiting for the others [while being] completely stopped.

“You put also [your rivals] in danger because the others don’t want to push or the tyres get cold and it’s dangerous.

“But they can do it, the rules allow them to do it. So this is racing, but like Pecco for me it’s ridiculous.”

Six-time champion Marquez followed Bagnaia on his first run in qualifying and set a lap that provisionally put him fifth on the grid after a tough Friday at Silverstone.

However, on his final flying attempt, the Gresini rider got stuck behind the slower VR46 bikes of Fabio di Giannantonio and Marco Bezzecchi and failed to improve on his previous effort, dropping to seventh on the grid.

Despite trying to gain an advantage himself, Marquez also wasn’t too pleased with the way qualifying panned out. But he also believes that switching to the superpole format — where all riders take turns in setting their fastest laps — will adversely affect the show.

Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing

Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

“Racing was and will be like this if they don’t change the qualifying practice and they put [something] like a superpole,” he said.

“But as we have seen in the past, the superpole is boring. I don’t have anything against it but [World] Superbikes was like one-by-one [in qualifying] and the show was not there.

“But in the end, when you follow some bike, you gain some things and [lose] other things.

“As we saw today in the second run, everybody in Q2 was waiting for the fastest guys.”

One idea that has been pitched involves setting a maximum time limit for each sector, which would prevent riders from slowing down too much on track in qualifying.

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However, Marquez doesn’t think it would entirely solve the problem, as riders will simply sit in the pits and wait for faster bikes to go out on track.

“You can change but then the strategy will be in the pitlane, like in Moto3 right now,” he said.

“You can change the sectors, but then the strategy will be in the pitlane. In the end you have different strategies to do it.

“This GP is the first one that I’m looking for a slipstream. I would like to not do it, like I did in the past races, but the rules are the rules and I’m not the guy to decide.”



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Marquez lost the front «without warning» on penultimate lap of Silverstone MotoGP sprint

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Marc Marquez says he had no “warning” before he crashed out of MotoGP’s British Grand Prix sprint at Silverstone with a little more than a lap to go.

The Gresini rider was running in fourth place in the final stages of Saturday’s half-distance race, having recovered from a difficult qualifying that had left him seventh on the grid.

But on the penultimate tour, the Spaniard slightly wide and lost the front end before hitting the deck and skidding on to the gravel trap at the edge of the track.

Although he was able to remount his battered GP23, the six-time champion was forced to bring the bike back into the pits — and was visibly frustrated as he took his spot in the garage.

Marquez was one of the few riders to opt for the hard front tyre, which offers more durability at the end of the race, but it came to be his undoing as he suffered a loss of tyre pressure after dropping behind the leading trio.

However, the late accident still came as a surprise to him.

“I was super happy about my race because my target was to try to be in that fifth position and I was there,” he said. “I don’t count the crash of [Francesco] Bagnaia.

“I felt better and better with the bike, but it was a combination of things. To be able to ride like this, we put the hard front tyre.

Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing

Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

“It was very on the limit on the left side. Especially on the last lap when I started to lose the front group a lot, the front tyre temperature started to drop and on that left corner was more critical.

“When you put the hard tyre, it means that maybe the grip is okay, but the warming is less because it’s not moving.

“There just I touched a little bit the white line and I tried to come back and without a warning I lose the front — but it’s like this.

“We are riding super fast, they are riding super fast. And as we see every race, somebody is gonna make a mistake.”

Factory Ducati rider Enea Bastianini scored his first victory of 2024 in the Silverstone sprint, beating Pramac’s Jorge Martin and polesitter Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia).

The result allowed Bastianini to close within 11 points of third-placed Marquez in the championship, but the Spaniard remains 56 points behind leader Francesco Bagnaia after he also retired from the race.

Marquez reiterated that he doesn’t see himself as a realistic contender for the title, while admitting that his life is being made tougher by the resurgence of Bastianini.

“Of course we have a chance, we are on the points, but I already say in Assen we are not in the position to fight for the championship,” he said.

Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing

Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

“From the French GP, from Le Mans, we are saving Sundays at the last-minute,” he added, referring to salvaging decent results after qualifying poorly.

“In the end you can save one, two, three, but [there will be some] that you will not save, will be another one [where] you will make a mistake.

“In the end, [there are] three riders [Bagnaia, Martin and Bastianini], especially now Bastianini is coming very strong, that are constantly faster than us.

“So we cannot do anything. We just try to survive, try to not lose a lot of points, and try to be on that top position.”



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Marquez «very far» from front after «feeling lost» in British GP practice

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The six-time MotoGP champion appeared to be off-colour at Silverstone on Friday, suffering a late crash in the morning session and then having to get a tow from Pramac’s Jorge Martin in order to secure a direct passage into the second part of qualifying.

While Ducati looked rapid at the 5.9km venue, with even VR46’s Fabio di Giannantonio and Marco Bezzecchi finishing sixth and ninth on last year’s GP23, Marquez struggled in comparison on the same-spec bike and was classified a distant 10th in FP2.

The Spaniard set a rapid time in the first sector on a number of occasions but fell adrift of his rivals later in the lap as he struggled with corner entry and rear grip.

Explaining his struggles afterwards, Marquez conceded that he was “very far” from his rivals after the first day of running at Silverstone.

“The circuit is a long circuit with very fast corners and if you struggle a little bit, the difference at the end of the lap is a lot,” he said.

“We can say that from the first lap of FP1 that I started in the opposite way. On riding and feeling with the bike, everything was super difficult to understand. 

“I tried to work on myself, the technicians tried to work on the set-up and in the afternoon [it felt better], but still we are very far.”

Unlike some other race weekends of the season so far, Marquez was able to gain a direct spot into Q2, as he narrowly beat the Pramac Ducati of Franco Morbidelli to 10th place in FP2.

He described that as “the only positive thing of today” before adding that he and Gresini have a lot of work to do overnight to close the gap to the opposition.

“Today was not a good day, I’m not happy,” he said. “The only positive [thing] is we are in the top 10, but apart from that the feeling was terrible.

“I need to work on myself and we need to understand how to find a better feeling with the bike and especially [improve] the lap time.”

Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing

Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Although it was only practice, Marquez tucked himself behind the faster GP24 of Martin in the final minutes of the session, hoping to gain a tow from him.

The strategy worked wonders and allowed him to post a time of 1m58.585s, while Martin went on to top the session ahead of Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro.

Marquez felt that he was left with no choice but to follow another rider after “feeling lost” on his bike in both sessions. 

“Today was the first day to follow somebody because today I felt I was lost,” he lamented. 

“In other race tracks, I feel like, ‘okay I’m feeling good and I can do it alone’ — and I feel better alone. But today I was lost. 

“When somebody is lost and they have the capacity to do it, they do [it]. 

“And today I went out behind Aleix [Espargaro] from the pits but Aleix didn’t push. Of course, I said I will not push too. 

“Then Martin arrived and that is where I followed Martin. But my initial plan was to follow Aleix.”

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Marquez joining Ducati to «learn from Bagnaia» after Race of Champions defeat

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Marc Marquez says he is moving to the factory Ducati team in 2025 to learn from two-time MotoGP champion Francesco Bagnaia, who he believes is the “reference” in the Italian marque’s line-up.

Gresini star Marquez made those comments last weekend after finishing third behind winner Bangaia and second-placed Andrea Iannone in Ducati’s Race of Championship event at Misano, where the entire field was running on the same street-legal Panigale V4 R.

The Spaniard ran fourth for the majority of the contest but closed up on Ducati’s World Superbike rookie Nicola Bulega in the last two laps, before attempting a last-gasp move on him on the final corner.

Bulega ended up in the gravel as a result of their fierce battle, while Marquez went through to snatch the final spot on the podium in his first participation in the World Ducati Week.

Marquez was clear that he hadn’t done anything unreasonable in his battle and visited his Italian rival after completing his media commitments to check on him. 

Bulega later received a helmet from the six-time MotoGP champion as a souvenir.

“I don’t know if I touched Nico, I just heard the noise he made when he slid,’ said the 31-year-old.

misanoducati

misanoducati

“Racing is like that when you race at the limit, we saw it in the first corner, where there was a lot of contact. 

“The overtaking was natural, I don’t know if he braked a little earlier than normal.”

Marquez will move up to the factory Ducati team in 2025 in place of Enea Bastianini as part of a two-year contract with Borgo Panigale.

This will put him directly against Bagnaia, who is going through a purple patch in his life having just taken over the lead of the MotoGP standings from Pramac’s Jorge Martin and gotten married during the summer break.

The 27-year-old also dominated the all-Ducati race at Misano after passing polesitter Iannone at Turn 1, taking the chequered flag with a winning margin of almost 1.5s from the GoEleven WSBK rider.

Marquez, who was never in contention to fight for victory, crossed the finish line 2.5s down off the leader.

Speaking afterwards, the Gresini rider admitted that Bagnaia is the benchmark at Ducati and he will be learning several skills from him when he becomes his team-mate.

“I have no problem in recognising that Pecco is the current reference for the team and the brand,” he said.

“He is an incredible rider and I come to that box to learn from him and try to get closer.”



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