Even the Abu Dhabi Auto Racing League
The “struggling” Marc Marquez raised his hands and admitted that his problems on the first day of the MotoGP French Grand Prix were of his own making.
In what amounted to his first real day of hardship since switching from Honda to the Gresini-run Ducati in 2024, Marquez fell in the first 10 minutes of the afternoon session at Le Mans and finished the day in 13th – dropping him to second. Q1 debut on Saturday.
It is also one of the first times he has been definitively outdone on Friday by fellow year-old Ducati riders, with both Fabio Di Giannantonio and Marco Pizzici qualifying directly for Q2.
“The first Friday was difficult,” Marquez admitted after the session. “The other Fridays were very easy, the pace was good; It was easy to be in Q2.
“But it is true that this is the first Friday where we suffer more. It can happen. So now it is time to react and try to understand what we did, where I had more difficulties in my driving style, and try to improve for tomorrow.
So far this struggle seems to come from difficulty making his riding style work with the Ducati Desmosecidi around the Bugatti Le Mans circuit, the first time Marquez has experienced that since moving to Ducati – and the first time he has had an accident because he was uncomfortable on the bike.
He explained: “Today was the first crash due to over-riding.” “I was fighting against the bike. I wasn't smooth enough, I wasn't clean on the lines.
“And upon this incident, I bent down a lot. I was struggling to keep it up [in] The lines and I bowed a lot.
“I struggle because I press too much in the front – because I can't feel the butt. So we need to understand how to feel the butt better.”
“Ducati, especially this bike, you have to feel a lot, or you have to exploit all the potential from the back. If not, you will suffer, and that is what happened today.
While Marquez was quick to point out that his leadership style was the biggest obstacle, he also expressed his frustration that he was unable to convert both opportunities to advance to Division Two.
The first was taken away from him when Enea Bastianini crashed and brought out the yellow flag, while in his final attempt, Marquez – who crossed the finish line one second ahead – had reached his previous best in the first sector but then made a slight error on the approach to La Chapelle.
❌ @MarcMarquez93The last attempt failed
The Spaniard will have to face the first division tomorrow as he finished training in thirteenth place ⚠️#FrenchGP 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/n6xTMHzlu2
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) May 10, 2024
“Yes, because I was struggling,” he admitted when asked if he drove angry. “I wasn't angry, but I was getting frustrated at the last frames.
“I made one turn just to see [the pace]Then the next lap there was a yellow flag, and… [on] The last one I did wrong.
“So I was angry about my mistake, because I knew it was the last chance. And in the last two laps, which were good for me and the tire, I couldn't take the profits.”
But there is one good thing on his mind ahead of Saturday's qualifying and the sprint race: the fact that he can now tap into Ducati's wealth of data from its seven other bikes to sit down and crunch some numbers with veteran crew chief Frankie Carchedi to try to find a replacement. A more comfortable solution.
“This can help a lot,” Marquez added when asked about other Ducati data. “We have a lot of Ducatis that are faster than us, so yes – we need to understand where they are, where we are, and try to find the right balance for me, for my riding style.
“Maybe we need to go in the direction of some of them. We'll analyze them.”
