Márquez Not Surprised by Q1 Participation: “Expectations Have Come True”

In his rich and successful MotoGP career, Marc Márquez has  only won twice at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Nevertheless, the outside world saw him as one of the favorites for the Grand Prix of Catalonia , especially after his good recent form. However, on Thursday the Gresini driver already stated that the circuit in Montmeló was not his strongest circuit and this was also proven during the second Friday training. With a twelfth fastest time, Márquez failed to secure direct placement for Q2, something he also failed to do two weeks ago in France.

Márquez Not Surprised by Q1 Participation: “Expectations Have Come True”.

This time, however, it did not come as a huge surprise for Máquez, as he noted after Friday’s action. “What we expected happened. Of course we tried to prevent this, but we already suspected that we would have a difficult time in Barcelona. We had less difficulty than expected, because in terms of race pace and on the medium tire I feel okay. But With the time attack we missed out on a place in Q2 by a tenth.

Tomorrow we face the worst training of the weekend, which is a nightmare,” said the eight-time world champion, who mainly had difficulty with braking – a problem that was more common. riders on the Ducati GP23 face.

Máquez looks for a solution for the braking problem, both within himself and with the material. “Of course I have a special style that works on most circuits. But there are three or four circuits on the calendar where it works less well. It’s good that it is on a limited number of tracks, but we have to do some things come to understand for tomorrow,” he explained. “This morning I felt very good, but in the third run of the afternoon training it didn’t feel so good. This morning my riding style worked well, so we have to work on both aspects.”

Relatively low expectations for the race.

During the French Grand Prix, Márquez made a huge impression by driving from thirteenth starting position to second place in both the sprint race and the main race on Sunday. He doesn’t see himself making the same catch-up race as two weeks ago if he fails to advance from Q1 to Q2. And even if he does succeed, he expects victory and podium places will remain out of reach.

“It depends on qualifying. If it goes well and we can start from the third row, for example, then I think we can finish between fifth and seventh place. It probably won’t work out better, but that is a good result here,” said Márquez, who points to the good form of KTM and Aprilia on Friday. “The KTM and Aprilia seem to work better here. It’s a different track and you have to find a balance for the whole season. So we have a harder time here than on other tracks, but we are not far away.”