Marc Márquez was one of the fastest on Friday at the MotoGP Grand Prix of the Americas. The Gresini Racing rider, who considers Austin one of his favorite circuits, finished in third place in the session, 0.409s behind the leader, Jorge Martín (Prima Pramac/Ducati).
The Spaniard was pleased with how he reacted to the challenges yesterday: ‘I am happy with the reaction. We started the day with not such a good feeling. The feeling was better in Portimão than here. But we reacted well for the afternoon and in the afternoon I started to feel better with the bike, I started to be more consistent – especially on that second outing on track. And it seems that now we can start working on the small details. But as I expected – not maybe people – there are two or three riders who are quite fast and faster than me‘.
This is the first time that Márquez is in Austin without being on a Honda, and the question about comparing the Ducati with the Japanese bike was inevitable. And he replied: ‘One bike is not completely a disaster in all areas and the other bike is not completely fantastic. It is impossible to have the perfect bike and it is impossible to have a bike that is working in all areas. The Honda was very good in those stop-and-go corners, but the thing is with the Ducati you need to ride differently and find the time in other areas in those corners. So, that’s where I was more focused in the afternoon, trying to understand that point. I started to understand and from that point the lap times are getting better and better‘.
The first sector was where #93 made the biggest difference with Honda, but admitted that it is where he is least comfortable with Ducati: ‘It’s the worst sector – for me, not because Martín is leading there. But it’s the worst sector in those quick direction changes. But I know why, so I need to understand how to be fast in other sectors. In that one I know why I’m struggling, so let’s see if on Saturday I can improve a bit the trajectories, but being fast in other parts’.
About the reason for these difficulties, Márquez specified: ‘The Honda was quite maneuverable there, that’s one aspect. And then I’m having more difficulty changing direction from one side to the other than in 2013; in 2013 my body was fresher‘.
Regarding the difficulties felt in FP1 and the improvements made in yesterday’s afternoon practice, the rider from Cervera explained: ‘I simply didn’t feel good, so I didn’t attack and waited for the right moment. Then, for the afternoon, we changed the base setup and I started to feel better and started to attack. If I don’t feel good, I can’t exaggerate in my riding. If I exaggerate, then the mistakes will come. In Portimão I fell three times – it’s true that when I fell in Portimão it wasn’t due to riding too aggressively […]. But here I’m just calm. I know the expectations are high, but I’m calm and I know what I want to do and what I need to do. At the moment I’m able to fight for that top five, let’s see if on Saturday we can be in that top three, but it will be difficult‘.
