Jorge Martin’s ominous prediction for Marc Marquez’s first race on a Ducati
Jorge Martin has solved his fairing problem - and comme🐼nts on Marc Marqꦗuez's three-day test
168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Jorge Martin watched 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Marc Marquez over the three-day Sepang test and now expects him to fight for the win at the first MotoGP round of the season.
Marquez’s switch from Repsol Honda to Gresini Ducati could create a fasc🍎inating addition to the 2024 MotoGP championship picture, whic𒉰h Pramac’s Martin hopes to be involved in again.
While Marquez went somewhat under the radar at the Sepang test,𒁃 his rivals are not fooled.
“He’s where I expected,” Martin said about Marquez, who finished sixth-fas💦test on Thursday, with the sixth-fastest average lap time over long runs..
“He will be really close to the victory in 💧Qatar.”
MotoGP riders have a two-day test in Qatar before the first 🅺round on March 8-10.
Martin, who narrowly missed ouꦉt on last year’s title to factory Ducati rival Francesco Bagnaia, was asked if they would resౠume their battle immediately.
“I don’t know, I don’t know, whatever,” he r𝓡eplied.
“I am focused on myself to improve my skills ඣand my riding sk🙈ills. The rest will come.
“I can guess that the sprints of last season will help a lot. Hopefully, I can be the one to try to bꦯeat Pecco.
“I feel ready for everything.
“But these 🌟tests? Difficult to analyse. A lot of riders have great pace but we don’t know their 🅰tyres.
“It won’t onlဣy be Pecco and me. There will be many ✱more riders.”
Was Martin surpr🍒ised by anyone at the Sepang test?
“No,ꦇ” he insisted. “All the things that I expected happened.
“A lot of sಌtrong riders who will be fighting for the title this season.”
Martin was second𝔉-fastest on a productive third and final day of th𓆉e Sepang test.
He trailed pace-se༒tter Bagnaia by +0.172s in an intri✱guing sign for the races ahead.
But his averag𒆙e lap across long runs was better than Bagnaia’s, and second only to Fa🦂bio di Giannantonio.
Cr𓆏ucially, Marti𝔍n and Pramac have also solved their fairing issue.
On Wednesday, Martin complained that he didn’t like the new 2024 fairing🅠 - but Bagnaia and Enea Bastianini fed back completely o♐pposite comments.
Martin has now said: “I was with a new fairing whic☂h yesterday I didn’t like. We changed the set-up.
“Straight away, I felt good and I di෴d a great lap.
“I 🤪did a small mistake in Turn 3 but the rest of the lap wa𒀰s impressive. Going under ‘57 was nice.
“💦Finally, I think yesterday I had a headache because I🌟 saw Pecco and Enea liked it. But I didn’t!
“It was strange that we𓃲 didn’t hꦉave the same comments.
“So today, straight a൲way in the morning, I felt competitive. Then I did the back-to-back, it was better, with more🃏 potential.
“We have the package for 2024.”
He described how the 2024 fairing is better ▨than last year’s: “It is m💧ore stable. We have more downforce. You have to get used to it.
“It’s slower changing direction so you have to change the bike꧟.
“Maybe, the riding style also.
“But overall it’s a positive way to go. It has a lot of potentiaജl.
“We have to un๊derstand how to get the maximum out of it but I feel good.”
He said about his long run on Thursday: “Yes, quite good. On the second lap ma🐭ybe I pushed too much.
“The tyre was suffering a lot.
“It was niceꦿ to see 10 laps in a row because we had some issues with [the tyres at the end of last year]! I cannot say a lot. But we had issues with the soft rear.
“This is good information for thꦦe race, because maybe it’s not the choice for the Sunday race.
“The pace was the fastest of the Ducatis.
“I feel comfortable, strong. Overall🦹, I feel OK to start🌠 the season.”
Martin enters the season among the two or th🃏ree favourites for the championship, emboldened by last year’s near-miss.
“🔯I feel quite strong,” he said. “I have the experience now. I a﷽m more precise in my comments, also.
“W𒊎e have taken ♛a step forward. Last year, I had the new bike and felt super good.
“This year we had to work more but finally a🧸rrived at a stronge൩r base.”
James was a sports journalist 🥂ꦰat Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
