Marc Marquez, the MotoGP rider who recently switched from Honda to a Ducati a year ago, acknowledged that his difficulties during the French Grand Prix weekend are his own fault. On the first day of the event, Marquez crashed during the afternoon session and ended the day in 13th place, meaning he will have to compete in Q1 on Saturday. This is one of the few times Marquez has been outperformed by his Ducati colleagues on a Friday. He admitted it was a tough day and now needs to analyze his performance and make improvements for the next day.
Marquez’s difficulties seem to stem from his inability to adapt his riding style to the Ducati Desmosedici at the Le Mans Bugatti circuit. This is the first time he has experienced this since switching to Ducati. He crashed because he was not comfortable on the bike and was not riding smoothly or cleanly. Marquez explained that he was pushing too hard on the front because he couldn’t feel the rear of the bike. He recognized that to succeed with Ducati, it is important to have a good feeling at the rear and utilize all its potential.
Although Marquez admitted that his riding style was a major limitation, he also expressed frustration at missing two opportunities to advance to Q2. The first chance was taken away when another rider crashed and brought out a yellow flag. On his last attempt, Marquez made a small mistake and couldn’t improve his time. He was disappointed with his error because he knew it was his last chance to qualify.
However, Marquez is optimistic about the qualifying and sprint race to come. He believes he can benefit from the amount of data that Ducati has from their other bikes. He plans to analyze this data with his experienced team boss to find a more comfortable solution. Marquez acknowledges that there are other Ducatis faster than his, and he wants to understand where they are doing well to find the right balance for his riding style. He hopes that this analysis will lead to improvements in his performance.
