The Spaniard, 8 times world champion, analyzes the year: “It wasn’t the right time to aim for the championship. However, I found myself and extended my career.” And on 2025: “I have the bike to win, but the opponents are strong”
He was the most awaited man in the 2024 MotoGP World Championship and Marc Marquez did not disappoint expectations. The Spaniard concluded his first season as a Ducati rider with the Gresini satellite team, finishing third in the standings, thanks also to three successes and a Sprint win. Excellent numbers, also considering the adaptation to a motorcycle that is profoundly different from the Honda he rode for 11 years. But if he had ridden the GP24, i.e. the Ducati prototype used by Jorge Martin and Francesco Bagnaia, the riders who preceded him, instead of the 2023 version, would Marquez have been capable of winning the world title?
THE BUDGET
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Marc himself answered the question. During an event organized by his sponsor Estrella Galicia, the Spaniard, eight times world champion, was frank: “I don’t think I would have won the World Championship if I had ridden a Ducati GP24. Both Jorge Martin and Pecco Bagnaia had a great season.” He continues: “It wasn’t the right time to fight for a title. Maybe I would have been closer in score, but I wouldn’t have won the championship.” The balance is still positive and Marquez identifies three crucial moments in 2024: “In terms of physical sensations, I prefer the first test in Valencia. Testing the new bike after 10 years in the same garage was the greatest satisfaction of the season. Then I choose the podium in Jerez, when I saw first place very close. Finally, the success in Aragon I knew that sooner or later the victory would come.”
MOTIVATION
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Special results considering the hell Marc ended up in after his right humerus injury in 2020. For this reason, the concluded season has an important value in the Spaniard’s eyes: “As I said to Team Gresini, this year I haven’t won the title, but on a personal level I achieved much more. I found myself extending my sporting career and not continuing to think about whether it was worth continuing or not. Now it’s time to continue having fun on the bike but obviously everything will depend from the results.” We are already looking towards 2025, when Marquez will team up with Bagnaia in the Ducati Lenovo Team: “I would like to fight for the title again and I have the best bike to do it. Everything will be in my hands. But we are in MotoGP, so are the opponents of a high level”. So calm and prudence. At least until the pre-season, when the clock will provide the first indications.
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