As a six-time MotoGP champion, Marc Márquez will always have high media expectations. However, the rider remains grounded for the 2024 season, the first in which he will ride a Ducati and be in a satellite team.
After the Sepang tests, the Spanish rider said that, although he is not far from the top, the conditions are different in a Grand Prix and time must be given to progress: ‘I am half a second away from the fastest lap. It is true that in terms of pace I am not far off. But here you can do 72 laps in a day, in a Grand Prix you don’t: you do 20 in the morning and 20 in the afternoon, and you have to fight for your life there. Especially with Friday like this. But we will try to work in the best way to shorten these deadlines and gradually make natural progress‘.
About the expectations that fall on him, Márquez played them down, emphasizing that he is focused on his goals: ‘For me, the important thing is that if you believe in expectations, I would have panicked and been nervous in the first two days. I am very clear about my personal goal for this year, I am very clear about what I am looking for and I want to enjoy in my garage, I want to enjoy on the track. If I am higher up, better; but if not, I will enter my garage and there will be moments when we can be closer‘.
