Marc Marquez: Racing Against Time for First Ducati Victory in 2024 MotoGP Season

What are the top opportunities for Marc Marquez to secure his initial Ducati MotoGP victory in 2024?

With 10 races remaining in 2024, the eight-time world champion aims to end his winless streak.

Marc Marquez's debut year riding the Ducati MotoGP motorcycle for the Gresini squad marked a resurgence for the six-time world champion in the premier class.

Deciding to leave behind the last year of his contract with factory Honda in favor of a one-year-old Ducati deal for 2024 was a major gamble in his MotoGP career, yet it turned out to be a rewarding decision.

Achieving top-three finishes in nine races, including both sprints and grand prix events, in the season's initial stages, Marquez landed a deal with the official Ducati team for the 2025 season.

This represents a significant shift from his performance on the challenging Honda in the previous season, where Marquez only achieved four podium finishes in total.

However, he continues to chase his first triumph since securing victory at the 2021 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. As of now, it has been 1020 days since he celebrated his 59th win in MotoGP.

In 2024, he narrowly missed out on several occasions, especially noticeable during the Spanish GP where he finished only 0.372 seconds behind Francesco Bagnaia after an intense fight for the win.

At the COTA and Sachsenring circuits, which were considered strongholds, the anticipated comeback to winning form did not materialize. In Austin, a brake problem led to a crash just as he had moved into the lead, and a challenging round in Germany made a win unattainable, although he managed to secure a second-place finish after starting 13th.

"After the British Grand Prix, he shared with motogp.com that they were on the brink of securing a win or achieving his inaugural victory riding the Ducati in the initial 10 races."

"However, at the two circuits where I usually perform well, Austin and Sachsenring, I faced significant challenges, particularly in Austin, where I encountered a brake issue while in the lead."

"However, taking a closer look, we have 10 more races to go. Indeed, there are three competitors ahead of us, all of whom are on the 2024 Ducati models. They're incredibly quick and also demonstrate excellent riding skills."

"Therefore, our aim is to give it our all and continue to find joy in what we do. That's the key priority. Also, we're striving to maintain a positive connection with the bike."

Marquez acknowledged during the Silverstone event that the GP24 has shown significant improvement over the GP23 he's currently using on some circuits: "Currently, we're trailing by about four to five seconds in the race [relative to the GP24]. Therefore, we must enhance our pace by more than two or three tenths per lap to compete effectively with them.

"That's quite a bit. It might not seem too concerning, yet it's significant! [Austria] is going to be a challenge. However, our aim is to secure a position within the top four or five, and – if possible – compete for a spot on the podium, just as we have in other races."

The forthcoming Grand Prix in Austria, a race where Marquez has yet to secure a first-place finish, is expected to mirror the events of the British GP, showcasing the GP24 models outperforming the GP23s. This doesn't rule out Marquez's chances of victory at the Red Bull Ring, however, the subsequent race in Aragon offers a more favorable chance for him.

Having clinched victory five times at Aragon, the track's counter-clockwise design suits Marquez's approach to racing perfectly. Despite grappling with a right arm that was healing and significantly misaligned by over 30 degrees due to a break sustained at Jerez the previous year, he secured a second-place finish on his Honda in 2021, narrowly missing out on victory after a close contest with Bagnaia.

Marquez secured four consecutive victories at Aragon from 2016 to 2019, with his most commanding win in 2019, finishing 4.8 seconds ahead of Andrea Dovizioso.

Consecutive rounds at Misano after Aragon could benefit him. Last year's San Marino GP saw him perform well on the Honda, securing a seventh-place. Ducati typically performs well at Misano, however, the advantage for Marquez this time is that, unlike earlier in the season since Qatar, he won't have as much difficulty preparing his GP23 for the race weekend.

Securing a fourth-place finish in his first race with Ducati in Qatar, after benefiting from two days of testing at the venue prior to the event, it stands to reason that the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix offers him the greatest opportunity for a win since his close loss at the Spanish Grand Prix.

Indonesia has proven to be a challenging location for him, as he had to pull out in 2022 because of a concussion and experienced a setback in the previous year's competition. However, Japan, Australia, and Thailand have generally been favorable locations for Marquez, both during his championship-winning periods and in recent years when he faced difficulties, even though those tracks may slightly favor the GP24s.

Malaysia might see a comparable approach to the one used in the Emilia Romagna GP, considering his familiarity with Sepang on the GP23. However, his grasp of the motorcycle and how it's configured has evolved considerably from that point. The same can be said for Valencia, where he initially took the bike for a spin last November. Yet, its counterclockwise configuration suits his abilities more than Sepang does.

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