Marc Marquez, the MotoGP rider who recently switched from Honda to a year-old Ducati, has acknowledged that his struggles during the French Grand Prix weekend are his own fault. On the first day of the event, Marquez fell during the afternoon session and finished the day in 13th place, which means he will have to compete in Q1 on Saturday. This is one of the few times that Marquez has been outperformed by his fellow Ducati riders on a Friday. He admitted that it was a difficult day and now he needs to analyze his performance and make improvements for the next day.
Marquez’s difficulties seem to stem from his inability to adapt his riding style to the Ducati Desmosecidi on the Le Mans Bugatti circuit. This is the first time he has experienced this since switching to Ducati. He crashed because he was not comfortable on the bike and was not riding smoothly or cleanly. Marquez explained that he was pushing too much in the front because he couldn’t feel the rear of the bike. He acknowledged that in order to succeed with the Ducati, it is important to have a good feel for the rear and utilize its full potential.
While Marquez admitted that his riding style was a major limitation, he also expressed frustration that he missed two opportunities to advance to Q2. The first chance was taken away when another rider crashed and brought out a yellow flag. On his final attempt, Marquez made a small error and was unable to improve his time. He was disappointed with his mistake because he knew it was his last chance to qualify.
However, Marquez is optimistic about the upcoming qualifying and sprint race. He believes that he can benefit from the wealth of data that Ducati has from its other bikes. He plans to analyze this data with his experienced crew chief to find a more comfortable solution. Marquez recognizes that there are other Ducatis that are faster than his, and he wants to understand where they are performing well in order to find the right balance for his riding style. He is hopeful that this analysis will lead to improvements in his performance.