2023-11-28 12:39:29
Marc Márquez’s long-awaited debut at the handlebars of the Ducati arrived and only his first eight laps were enough to realize that he made the right change. After taking off his helmet, the former Repsol Honda rider showed a smile from ear to ear on his first return to the box, confirming at the first opportunity that riding the Ducati makes a rider’s life much easier, just as he has been saying. long ago his brother, Álex Márquez, who embarked on that same path last year and was delighted from the first day.
Although the times will improve throughout a day that started colder than in previous days at the Ricardo Tormo in Cheste, the times are already interesting and it is spectacular to see the new Ducati rider second and as the first Borgo Panigale bike on the hour of the television lunch break at one in the followingnoon. The eight-time champion has so far made three outings on the track of 8, 9 and 4 laps, with a best time of 1:30.222 that has left him 0.298 behind Maverick Viñales, the fastest so far. The third is the little one of the Márquez and Jorge Martín is fourth, a tenth slower than his new factory partner and the same one who has had two falls in his debut with the 2024 Desmosedici.
As the morning started cold, Marc took his first outing on his new bike easy. The track opened at ten in the morning and the first to start rolling was Luca Marini, who debuted with the Honda, leaving Márquez who had to wait until 11:14 in the morning to make his first appearance. with his new motorcycle. In that first ‘run’ of 8 laps he has already suffered his first crash, when braking in turn 1 of his third lap, which has not intimidated him in the least, because he has continued pulling and from the sixth to the seventh lap He improved his time by 1.5, stops and returns one turn later to the box and leaves that image that everyone is waiting for, that first reaction that was a smile from ear to ear. In his next two outings, his best time came on lap 20 of the 21 that he has given so far and generated the admiration of a dear rival, Davide Tardozzi, team manager of the Lenovo Ducati, who described the first steps as “impressive”. of Marc with the Italian motorcycle.
The top ten list at the moment is made up of Maverick, Marquez, Alex Marquez, Martin, Augusto Fernandez, Di Giannantonio, Quartararo, Bagnaia, Binder and Bastianini. Further back, Raul Fernandez 11th, Mir 12th, Rins 16th, Acosta 17th and Aleix 22nd.
Things to highlight, the golden chair that has been placed in Bagnaia’s box to honor the achievement of his second MotoGP title last Sunday, an encouragement before getting on the new 2024 prototype, with a new engine. By the way, Márquez’s chair is also new and you can read on it the message given to him by one of the sponsors who are accompanying him on this adventure, Estrella Galicia 0,0: “Get up and enjoy.”
The other long-awaited debut is that of Acosta, who comes to MotoGP with KTM and has been placed in the GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3 where people are already starting to speak highly of him. The two-time champion has already had his first exit off the track, in turn 1, and his first mini tangle, with Maverick, currently running in 17th, 1.4 off the lead. Let no one doubt that he will go further.
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