With a time of 1'38"803 Alex Marquez took the lead in the post-season test day at Montmelo. For the Spaniard it was his debut on the GP24 ridden until last Sunday by Bagnaia, Martin and Bastianini, and at least in this first approach the responses were as expected.
"This morning I made a run with the GP23 to understand what the grip level was and what the track conditions were like. When I got on the GP24 I felt the difference, but the timing feedback was immediately the same on used tires, and that's good. As I rode around, the sensations improved. I noticed progress in terms of corner entry, an aspect that made even Pirro feel a little lost when he had to ride the GP23 being used to the GP24 by now, and that's because the 2024 bike was custom built for the current rear tire. Overall this version is a step forward from the previous one, so I am happy with the day, very solid."
Asked if this Tuesday was useful for him to better understand the outcome of the season with the dominance of two riders in particular, the youngest of the Marquez riders said, "It's the first day and by the way on a track I love, but I don't think it has anything to do with the bike available per se. Bagnaia and Martin had a magnificent season, they were fast in all conditions. Definitely as a bike it is better, but before I make a judgment I want to try it on a circuit that is not perfectly suited to me. Now we will go to Malaysia and Thailand, two tracks that suit me, so there is a wait and see. Then of course we will have to evaluate the progress of the other manufacturers and the GP25. Only then will we understand where we stand."
On the time set in the session the Team Gresini rider was not particularly surprised. "In qualifying I stopped the stopwatch on 1'38"9, but it was erased because I had touched the green. The grip today was not homogeoneous, in any case that time was normal, not having to change anything but make small adjustments and not having anything to report to the technicians. Is the lowerer slower? To evaluate it we will wait for Thailand, this is not a significant track," he reported.
The 28-year-old also had a chance to test the radio: "It bothered me because it was not applied in the right way, so I can't add much but honestly it's not something that interests me."
Finally joking about the middle finger shown by his brother Marc, who had just switched to the factory Ducati, aimed at his former box, he concluded, "He replied to the greeting and the fact that they had told him we were ahead of him."