Alex Marquez towards Jerez
A year ago, the Jerez de la Frontera circuit rewarded Alex Marquez, who here crowned the dream of becoming a GP winner in the premier class of MotoGP and briefly leading the standings. 12 months later, the world has turned upside down for the youngest of the Marquez brothers and for Ducati: in the first three weekends, Aprilia has been the benchmark, while the Borgo Panigale manufacturer must recover ground and will focus heavily on Monday’s tests. This is why the #73 does not expect great results from this weekend.
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Alex Marquez’s words
“I don’t have the potential to repeat myself at all, the start of the season has been difficult for us. We are still a good step behind Aprilia, but the path is right and Ducati is working very hard; I also need to take a step forward in terms of riding style, trying to approach various aspects better and make the most of the many positive things we have available this year“, commented Alex Marquez at the press conference. “Repeating last year’s success would be fantastic, but at the moment it doesn’t seem very realistic. I struggle a lot to brake the bike, and that’s the aspect I miss most compared to the past: we lack a lot on entry, but we must keep pushing and we cannot lose confidence. Only three races have passed, the season is very long: we must continue to give our best and when we are in better conditions we will have the opportunity to exploit our potential“.
“I think that in some aspects we are at the same level as last year, while on the engine, for example, we are even better, we are faster and more powerful“, he added. “But in some points at the corner entry, I struggle a bit to stop the bike. In other points I feel very good and the numbers also show it, but Aprilia has made a very big step forward and is pushing us more to the limit, making our lives more difficult in the areas where we might be most struggling. However, I believe that, without doing too many strange things, small adjustments are enough to make a good step forward“.
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The program and times
MotoGP will start its engines tomorrow at 10:45 with FP1, while Practice will begin at 15:00. Saturday’s times are 10:10 for FP2, 10:50 for Q1, 11:15 for Q2, and 15:00 for the Sprint. On Sunday, the GP will start at 14:00.
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