The happy face and the ecstatic state of the last Australian Grand Prix which only dates from last weekend were already very far away given the comment made by Marc Marquez on his first day of the Malaysian Grand Prix. The one who now has 100 podiums in the premier category was nevertheless third in the FP1 ranking which is authentic for the general hierarchy this Friday. But he warns that this place in the top three does not meet his potential. And, worse, the “heavy” Honda to ride tired him…
Marc Marquez made an alarming assessment of his Friday in Sepang to the point that it does not bode well for the future of events. He says thus: “ with the weather conditions we were not able to do all the tests we needed. So Saturday, if I am forced to sacrifice my position at the start to do more attempts, I will be forced to do so ". Which will then inevitably have an impact on Sunday, race day…
The eight-time World Champion also explains his concern: “ I feel “heavy”, you have to understand why I feel all this inertia. On circuits where you don't have to stop the Honda and put it into the corner, like Phillip Island and Qatar, it's fine, but when you have to stop it, putting it into the corner is a problem. I don't know what other drivers think about it. But it's not good for me ».
Marc Marquez: “ we are between the 8th and the 10th beat »
He is not comfortable and therefore becomes exhausted quite quickly: “ my position on the bike is the same as the previous one, it's more the character of the bike that is less good for me. It's true that from a performance point of view, this 213 RC2022-V is better, but for the way I drive, I don't feel comfortable. We need to understand why. At Phillip Island I had a good race, but the bike moves a lot and is difficult to ride ».
He adds : " I didn't ride well, I get tired on the bike both in the dry and in the wet. In terms of race pace, I think we are even further than in the last races. Let's say we are between the 8th and 10th beats, in cadence. We still have a way to go. There are times when you have to do a little more and this weekend is one of those where you have to work if you want to obtain an acceptable result ».
Then he ends by recalling the objective for 2023: “ you have to understand the bike, when there is little grip, which was one of my strengths, I can't tell the difference. We need to have a consistent bike on all tracks, like Ducati is now. In the past they were only strong on certain circuits, now they are strong on all of them. The goal is this ».
MotoGP Malaysian Grand Prix FP1/FP2 results at Sepang:
Credit ranking: MotoGP.com
