Marc Márquez arrived in Jerez satisfied with his quick adaptation to the Ducati, the best bike on the grid. This Saturday, with the wet asphalt, he brought out all his talent to take his first pole position with the Italian machine ahead of his brand colleagues, Marco Bezzecchi and Jorge Martín. The eight-time world champion celebrated first place in style with the fans, making waves to make the stands roar. Later, however, he became more restrained about his chances in the sprint this Saturday and the long race this Sunday (2:00 p.m., Dazn and La Sexta).
“I immediately felt very good in the water, and in Qatar I realized that it is a motorcycle that works very well in these conditions. We will try to fight for the podium,” he commented to the DAZN microphones. “I always try to be realistic, and although this puts pressure on me, it is the truth. We started first, so we can only lose positions. The goal is to have an acceptable race to be on the podium,” he added.
It’s about the pole number 93 of the ’93 World Cup race, the 65th in the premier category. The previous and only one on the Jerez circuit for him dated back a decade. Márquez drove to the limit and had two big scares during qualifying, raising his hand in lamentation in both warnings. The Catalan had to wait with a certain suspense while the rest of the grid completed their final laps to be able to celebrate first place with the public. His pace, even on wet asphalt, shows that, indeed, he only needs to polish some details.
“The Ducati is a very complete motorcycle. For me it is the most complete bike on the grid,” he said on Friday, after his most positive training session with the Desmosedici GP23. “On a circuit one or another motorcycle may perform better, but what is sought for a championship is to have the most complete motorcycle, and for me that is the Ducati. Now I am completely adapted, and I just need to find little things. In one grand prix it will cost more and in another it will cost less, but it is about continuing to insist,” he commented.
Another who had many numbers of signing the best time, Pedro Acosta, the rookie who threatens most of the precocity records on the grid, did find the top of the asphalt and fell when he was on pace to place himself first. The last corner of the circuit, one of the most iconic of the championship, witnessed a hard but important lesson for the very young 19-year-old talent from Murcia. Pecco Bagnaia, defending champion of the crown and Ducati reference, could only finish seventh underwater.
The rain that fell with some intensity early in the morning complicated the work of the teams this Saturday, although the sunrise is expected to return dry conditions for both races in the fourth World Cup event in 2024.
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