After winning six MotoGP championships with Honda, but struggling with an uncompetitive RC213V for several years now, Marquez has moved to Gresini Racing for the 2024 season.
He ended up fourth on the timesheet when the field returned to the Circuit Ricardo Tormo, two days after the 2023 season finale, for a day of testing.
The man himself, however, was unable to speak publicly owing to his Honda agreement running until the end of the calendar year.
Now, he has told Spanish MotoGP rights holder DAZN, “I don’t like to compare motorcycles, especially in public.
“It’s a different bike, with a different riding style.
“You jump onto the champion bike and it’s in your hands, because there are many riders who go fast on it.
“I was able to adapt faster than expected because I immediately felt very good.
“There was a lot of feeling and the time worked out without exaggeratedly looking for it.
“In the test, at the end of the day we were able to put on new soft tyres and I also felt good.”
While Marquez was able to negotiate an early exit from his Honda Racing Corporation contract, he is now without Crew Chief Santi Hernandez for the first time in his MotoGP career, with Gresini incumbent Frankie Carchedi filling that role on the #93 entry.
“The speed is there, but I still have a lot of things to understand, not so much to go faster, but to be more consistent,” admitted the Spaniard.
“And, above all, in terms of communication with the team.
“I’ve been working with a group for 11 years; now it’s a new group, but the family has received me very well and that’s always nice.”
Gresini Racing, which will also field Marc’s brother Alex this year, will hold its season launch on January 20 (local time).
Meanwhile, Ciabatti has been moved to Ducati’s new offroad division, with Mauro Grassilli to replace him as Sporting Director of its MotoGP programme.
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