Marc Marquez’s Battle for Factory Ducati Seat: Overcoming the Four-Second Gap with Sheer Talent

Marc Marquez suggests there's a four-second gap in performance between his GP23 and the latest GP24 models straight from the factory.

Marc Marquez is convinced that his swift advancement on the GP23 from the previous season helped him secure the much-desired official Ducati spot over the current MotoGP frontrunner, Jorge Martin.

On paper, Martin emerged as the clear favorite, having secured second place behind Francesco Bagnaia in the previous season and presently holding a lead of 18 points over the Italian in this year's rankings, representing the satellite Pramac team.

Marquez's last win in a MotoGP event dates back to his ultimate triumph with Repsol Honda at Misano in 2021. Meanwhile, over the last 15 months, Martin has secured victories in six grand prix races and has come out on top in 12 Sprint races.

Nonetheless, Martin operates a GP24 that matches Bagnaia's specifications, but Marquez's bike from the previous year is of a lesser quality compared to what Bagnaia and Martin had at the end of the previous season (for instance, Marquez lacks the most recent ride-height adjustment feature).

In an interview with AS.com, when queried on how the GP24 compares to the GP23, Marquez suggested the disparity was roughly "two tenths of a second per lap, which adds up to four seconds over the course of a race."

To provide perspective on that statistic, in the five out of seven (Sunday) Grand Prix races Marquez has completed without crashing this season, the gap to first place has been:

To put it differently, under four seconds at four Grand Prix events…

Gigi Dall’Igna, the general manager of Ducati Corse, along with his team of engineers, are the most knowledgeable about the performance variances between the 2023 and 2024 Desmosedicis. They also have the capability to evaluate the skill levels of riders by analyzing data from eight different sources.

"Marquez emphasized the importance of utilizing all available strategies to secure the highly sought-after factory position."

"The heaviest burden falls upon the track, and as the Ducati engineers have informed me, their close observation of my development with the 2023 model has had a significant impact, more than anything else."

Marquez believed that the variation in the bike's specifications compared to Martin's was the key factor why the factory Ducati ride shouldn't just be given to the one who ranked higher in this season's global championship.

"In order to achieve that, one must possess equivalent armaments, which I currently lack," he stated. "However, this isn't a justification, and I'm demonstrating my ability to be competitive."

"I also made it quite evident that I had no intention of switching from one satellite team to another, specifically Pramac."

"Furthermore, the third aspect to consider is that sports professionals are bound by agreements with their sponsors… and they simply cannot delay [until the season concludes]. It was not a viable option."

Up to this point in the current season, the GP24s have secured 6 wins, with Maverick Vinales from Aprilia emerging as the sole other victor.

Following the initial seven races of the previous season, GP22s, with Marco Bezzecchi at the helm, secured 2 victories, while the GP23s managed to clinch 4 wins.

Nonetheless, Marquez holding the third position and being 35 points behind the leader mirrors Bezzecchi's performance from last season, where he was also third but trailed by 34 points at this point in the championship.

Discover More

Recent Updates

Recent Updates

Site Index

Crash.Net

©1999-2024 Crash Media Group

Copying or replicating the text, photos, or illustrations in full or in part is strictly prohibited in any manner.