From the first time he rode the Ducati in the first test at Cheste on November 8 to Alex Marquez His smile was indelible and after three days of testing in Sepang he proved that step has been taken in his adaptation process to the GP22 he will drive this year in the ranks of Gresini Racing. He seeks to produce a Bastianini who last year in that box got four wins and finished third in the championship. Unlike ‘The Beast, Alex Márquez has both world titles in the lower categories compared to only one for the Italian, so the quality comes from the factory.
“We have a lot of respect for our riders, any of the riders riding Ducati has our approval. And this year Alex will show why he is a two-time world champion, I think he has never had a chance to show. until now”, Ducati team manager Davide Tardozzi predicted in Sepang.
There is a piece of data that shows the jump Alex made in just four days in GP22. In October, qualifying for the Malaysian GP, Alex Márquez finished 21st with 2’00″008. His best lap was in FP3 with 1’59″934, the only time in under two minutes throughout the Grand Prix with Honda. Four months later, he left the Sepang test with the ninth fastest time and a best lap of 1’58″666. He took the family duel by 0″281 since Marc Márquez was tenth with 1 ’58″666 although he is also true that the oldest of Márquez did not make a ‘time attack’ because they were making him do other things on the Honda.
“I have the keys to the house. I hope Marc doesn’t change the lock on the house when he comes back (laughs). And this is what he assessed in his brother’s test: “I know Honda and I’m not surprised to see them pursuing . I know that at Honda they have renewed the squad, but you can’t solve problems by snapping your fingers,” said Àlex.
There is nothing but optimism about his performance: “I am happy with this test, every day I made important steps, which allowed me to improve on dry laps and speed. Together with the team, we made a great job and Now I have clear ideas. I know where I am strong on Ducati and I know where I have problems and need to improve. I am obviously referring to braking, this is the aspect that limits me at the moment this”.
“Often the rear end loses contact with the road and deceleration is not optimal. If I can take a step forward, I can force the front end lower and brake later. So we have to work well , without forgetting the position in the saddle”, explained one from Cervera.
Honda is no longer his problem and he explains that “here at Ducati there is another mentality. Dall’Igna is a fantastic engineer and every day he comes to my garage with the Ducati engineers. every one of them is accepted and there is always continuous confrontation”.
Honda takes a good lesson from the season: “I had difficult moments, but they helped me become a stronger and better driver.”
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
