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Marc Marquez will be forced to transit from Q1 for the second consecutive race after finishing FP2 in 12th position, behind his brother Alex. After a good morning session, the Gresini team rider was unable to find the right pace in the time attack to succeed in the Top 10 and will have to try to straighten out his weekend in tomorrow's Qualifying.
"What happened here in Barcelona? What we expected. We tried to avoid it of course, but we expected to struggle here in Barcelona and we did, although we struggled less than expected because I felt pretty good on the race pace and on medium tire, but in the time attack we missing about a tenth to get to Q2, which was the goal," Marc explained at the end of the day, " A goal that I knew would be difficult, but we didn't achieve it and now we have to face Q1, the worst session of the weekend, the nightmare one. "
A similar but different situation from the one encountered by the Catalan in the last Round in Le Mans. "It is different, because in France we knew where the problem was and we knew that going back to our basic set-up would solve it. Here, on the other hand, we used the basic set-up, so we have to figure out where the problem is," he said, going into more detail about the difficulties encountered on this Catalan Friday: "Here, basically, I struggle on entry, which is the phase where I still don't feel perfectly comfortable. Braking is one of my strong points but here it's one of my weak points, so we'll have to better understand the balance of the bike, also because my problems in entry were accentuated when I mounted the new tire, and it was even worse. Now is the time to figure out what to do, whether to lose maybe losing a little on the pace to gain on the flying lap. That can also be a good option."
To make a breakthrough will it be necessary to work on the bike or the riding style? "I would say both ," Marc replied, " Certainly my riding style is special and works on almost every track, but there are three or four tracks on the calendar where it works less, which are Qatar, Montmeló, Malaysia and I would say a little bit also Indonesia. The good thing is that they are only three or four out of twenty, however, we have to try to get a good understanding of the situation for tomorrow. This morning I felt good as soon as I entered the track and my style worked, while this afternoon, for some reason, I didn't feel as good from the first exit. I didn't make it to Q2 by a narrow margin. The important thing is that I made the time alone. I have always been from on the track alone and that if nothing else gives me peace of mind. We'll see if I can get a good lap in Q1 tomorrow."
Asked then about his potential for the Sprint race, the eldest of the Marquez brothers highlighted precisely the importance of being able to have a good qualifying first.
"It depends as always on the result of Qualifying, but if we were to have a good qualifying and start for example from the third row, at the moment the potential is to be between fifth and seventh. Not better. However, it would be a good result here at Montmeló, because it seems that KTM and Aprilia are working better here and they have aerodynamics that help them in the corners. These are different tracks and you have to find the best balance for all the tracks on the calendar. Here we are struggling more than the other tracks, it is one of the worst tracks - commented the Catalan - On Thursday I said, 'One weekend is saved, two is more difficult and three is even more difficult.' We'll see if we can get through Q1, which will be complicated, because there are very fast riders on the single lap. Then, in terms of pace, not much, but the important thing will be to make the most of the soft tire."
Not all Ducatis managed to shine on the Barcelona track, especially the GP23s, which struggled more than the latest evolution of the Desmosedici.
"The aerodynamics of the GP24 can help a little bit," noted the Gresini rider. " On the circuits we've been on, the GP24s gain more in the long corners, but today there was a GP23 that was a little bit faster than me, which is my brother Alex. The two VR46s are fine. On other circuits I was making more difference, while on this one I am more on par with the other GP23s."
Marquez then concluded by commenting on the possibility of thinking about teamwork in qualifying with his brother Alex. "Doing a team strategy in Q1 means damaging either one or the other, because either me or him would stay out. It would be difficult to pass both of us. In the end you have to find your own way, you have to give 100 percent. Today he was having a good lap to get into Q2, but he crashed ," he noted, "Both the riding style and the grip level change a lot from morning to afternoon, so to figure out how to ride.
Automatic Translation by DeepL
