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 remembered… 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 this moment. In terms of attacking times, I didn’t make an incredible 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 still work to be done, 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 remembered one aspect in which his current bike works differently from the previous one:
– In general, it was easy to try an attack on the times, we just have to push the pace more in braking, the bike stops better with the hard tire, it helps a lot to stop. Ducati uses the rear tire better compared to Honda in my opinion at the moment and we have to improve in that area. With new tires, you want to brake later and I have difficulties. For me, this is currently the most difficult part, as well as the last part of the entry into the corner, I lack the ability to lean, but it is a configuration issue at the moment and we have to work on that area, and of course, Joan [Mir] is stronger and faster in this aspect.
