Marc Marquez is back in the fight for the MotoGP World Championship. After four largely unsuccessful years with Honda since 2020, the eight-time champion is now aiming for the crown again. In the first six Grands Prix of 2024, he was on the podium a total of seven times. In the last five sprint and main races, he was the only rider to finish in the top three. He even outdid his World Championship rivals Jorge Martin and Francesco Bagnaia. However, the Gresini rider is still missing one crucial point to finally fight with the two for the World Championship crown, as he revealed after the Grand Prix in Catalonia.
Marquez’s plan has worked out perfectly so far. In the winter he spoke of having to get used to the Desmosedici. And in fact, at the season opener in Qatar he was not yet on the same level as Bagnaia and Martin. That was to change at the European opener in Portimao, where he was on the podium with Ducati for the first time. One day later he collided with factory rider Bagnaia in the main race.
Marc Marquez: Must improve qualifying if I want to fight for the World Championship
Marquez then explained that the adaptation to the Ducati was complete and that he could now attack fully. No sooner said than done: In the USA, he was once again on the podium in the sprint on one of his favorite tracks, but in the main race he crashed while leading. In the following three Grands Prix, Marquez showed impressive pace: in both In Jerez, as well as in Le Mans and Barcelona, Marquez was on the same level as Martin and Bagnaia. In Jerez, he narrowly missed out on victory in the duel with world champion Bagnaia. In Le Mans and Barcelona, he showed four incredible comebacks from poor starting positions.
This quickly makes one of Marquez’s problems clear: the qualifying sessions. In France and Catalonia, starting in 13th and 14th positions respectively probably cost him the chance of the long-awaited MotoGP victory with Ducati. The weakness of one fast lap in training and qualifying is currently preventing Marquez from talking about serious title ambitions. “If I want to fight for the world championship title, then I have to start from the first two rows, like they do [Bagnaia und Martin] do it,” he analyzed after the Catalonia GP.
Marc Marquez: Top 3 in the World Championship would be great
“It’s true that they are ahead of me in that respect, they are fast on all tracks, in all sessions. We can’t be too weak on Friday and in qualifying if we want to beat them,” said Marquez. Nevertheless, he is extremely happy with the situation of even being in the fight for the World Championship. “To be only 41 points behind after six Grands Prix is great. Before the season, I would have signed up for it straight away. To finish this year in the top three of the World Championship would be fantastic.”
Marquez is therefore making a great effort to keep his expectations low, at least on the outside. But it is obvious that he can keep up with the Ducati duo with the GP23. The first victory for the number 93 Ducati is long overdue and probably only a matter of time. “In Jerez I had the pace to win, but not the confidence because I had crashed in Portimao and Austin before. I was also fast enough to win in Le Mans. Here in Barcelona it was different, I only had the pace for a top 5 result. This is one of my worst tracks. Even though it is my home GP, I hate driving here,” grinned Marquez after his third place in Montmelo.
Will Mugello be the first victory for Marquez on a Ducati? The stars are certainly not bad, the Italians’ next success would be MotoGP victory number 93 for the Borgo Panigale team – so who would be better suited to do that than Marquez himself? As usual, the former MotoGP dominator is tempering expectations ahead of the Italian Grand Prix. “Mugello will not be the best place to get the first victory. ‘Pecco’ is very strong there. I’m not stressed, hopefully I’ll be even closer and better prepared in the second part of the season. So let’s be surprised by what I can do. But I’m already very happy and just enjoy battling with Bagnaia and Martin.”