For 2024, with Marc Marquez back on a winning bike, in this case a Ducati Gresini, which, even from last season, should do the trick in the hands of the Spaniard, some ensure a resounding return of the King. A prognosis that we spontaneously endorse, but some, and not the least of them, nevertheless ask to see. This is the case of Casey Stoner, an authority if ever there was one, who recalls that the eight-time world champion is now over thirty, which is not insignificant for an athlete facing such a level of competition.
Casey Stoner will be like many among the fans and in the paddock to observe, the Tuesday November 28 in Valencia, the first turns of the wheel of Marc Marquez on a Ducati in the colors of Gresini, as part of the first test of the 2024 MotoGP off-season. The eight-time World Champion is also impatient to be there, and admits a little apprehension about the deadline: “ it's the best bike at the moment, there's no excuses for the bike because you have the one that leads the World Championship and with which many riders go fast. Everyone expects me to be able to be competitive right away… But during the Valencia tests, we must not forget that I have been driving with a certain style for eleven years. I also have to adapt to the team. Because there are so many different changes and the first to have questions is me, and I have to solve them on the track ».
Marc Marquez therefore do not take this new direction lightly. And Casey Stoner says that he is right to be so cautious, because in addition to the new bike and the new team, there is also the rider who must renew himself... The double Australian World Champion explains this in an interview with Moto.it : " Marc Marquez is very talented, but he doesn't drive without thinking either. He's a smart guy, but at the same time he has a lot of confidence in his talent to control the bike ". And he makes this interesting remark when we see the current state of disrepair of the project Honda in MotoGP: “ I don't think Marc would invest the same time and the same efforts to obtain a correct setting, he takes advantage of the time he has in training to exceed his limits, and then in the race we see that he is going a little more calmly ».
Casey Stoner: “ I would have approached Marc Marquez with a very different mentality from the others, I would have tried to change the game, I think that would have slowed down his progress »
But for Casey Stoner, this dynamic that Marc Marquez has followed throughout his career is now a problem: “ when you are young, you are faster, your reaction time is shorter, you have a better body. Now he's older, his reaction time is slower, and you run the risk of more falls if you continue to ride the same way. The most important thing I have learned in my career is to learn to go faster with less risk. It sounds simple, but it's not. It's not easy at all ».
The former pilot of 38 years believes that the philosophy of Marc Marquez is beneficial " when you are a rookie, because you exceed your limits, you go to the edge of the tire, and you will be fast, but you will be at your limit ". Then he explains his case: “ As my career progressed, I tried to find a point where you can be very fast with a little less risk. This helped me a lot. And I think Marc's career has reached this point. He must learn to reduce risks while remaining fast. He needs to adapt quickly. He just needs to adapt to a few things. I think there is still a lot of talent, more than anyone, but we will have to wait to see how he adapts to his new situation », Declares the Australian.
