Gresini Racing held its presentation for the 2024 season yesterday and Marc Márquez, considered by many to be the number one favourite for the title, dismissed the pressure on his performance, pointing out that he’s not at the same level as other Desmosedici riders, without forgetting the last few years of… ‘nightmare’.
Márquez was asked by the press about the less familiar feeling he’ll find at the Italian team, especially after more than a decade in close contact with other members of the paddock, and he didn’t deny that it will be strange: ‘After 11 years together with the [Honda] team and more with my people, 13 or 14 years, it was and is a bit strange, the first steps are strange. When I made the decision [to join Gresini] I was totally convinced and obviously moving to a team like Gresini with my brother as a teammate will make the change much easier. I knew it was going to be like this but, apart from that, I felt very comfortable right from the first tests in Valencia with the people. It was the first test of course, one day, with a lot of expectation and nervous people but I’ve already spent time with the team yesterday and these days and it won’t be a problem for the performance on the track’.
As for the high expectations placed on him, the #93 made it clear that he wants to be fast, but he has to be aware of what his current situation is: ‘One thing is expectation and another is the approach: mine will of course be to try to be fast on the track and if I can be a tenth faster in the first test I will try to do it. Another thing is expectations versus reality. Of course people’s expectations are very high, but as I said my job is to try to forget all those expectations, to try to work in the garage, because I need to be calm, especially at the start’.
He went on to make it clear that he can’t, at the moment, think that he’s on the same level as other riders, giving as an example the current champion and runner-up in the category:
– Calm doesn’t mean not fast. Of course I’ll try to be fast, but I can’t pretend that I’m fighting for victory at the start because the last four years have been a nightmare for me and in the last two I haven’t been able to win a race, especially as I’m coming to a bike on which two riders in particular – Pecco Bagnaia and Jorge Martín – have spent many years at the wheel, winning races and championships. They’re super fast and will have the bike of 2024. You get there even with the same bike and you can’t pretend that you’re on the same level, or it wouldn’t be normal to be on the same level with them straight away.