After the tests in Sepang, Luca Marini concluded the third day in 19th place and far from what he knows how to do, but he believes that, now on a new bike, time will work in his favor since there is ‘a great margin for improvement’.
In a general summary of his work these days, here is the reaction of the Italian who recalled… the Ducati: ‘I believe that there are many positive things from this test, especially in these three days with the other riders where it is possible to have a clearer idea of our potential at the moment. In terms of attacking the times, I didn’t make an amazing lap time, […]. I had some difficulties when I tried to push with the Honda with new tires, it is different from the Ducati when you have to push hard and I believe that there is a great margin for improvement’.
From his side and the team’s side, there is some work ahead, he assured: ‘In terms of settings, we only started today to try some things on the bike’s axles, the balance in general, and I believe that in Qatar it will be even more interesting because we will have more parts to test, and that test will also be more important for the race weekend, more focused on lap times and finding a higher speed, to be competitive for the race afterwards’.
Still with Ducati in mind, Marini recalled an aspect in which his current bike works differently from the previous one:
– En general, fue fácil intentar atacar los tiempos, solo tenemos que forzar más el ritmo en la frenada, la moto frena mejor con el neumático duro, ayuda mucho a detenerse. En mi opinión, Ducati utiliza mejor el neumático trasero en comparación con Honda en este momento y tenemos que mejorar en esa área. Con neumáticos nuevos, quieres frenar más tarde y tengo dificultades. Para mí, esta es la parte más difícil en este momento, así como la última parte de la entrada de la curva, me falta habilidad para girar, pero es una cuestión de configuración en este momento y tenemos que trabajar en esa área y, por supuesto, Joan [Mir] es más fuerte y rápido en este aspecto.
