Marc Marquez’s feedback after intriguing new item is evaluated at Jerez test
Marc Marquez tested a thumb brake which Ducati say is "important" in the "acceleration phase"
With the meat of his Ducati adaptation now complete, Marc Marquez turned his attention to smaller details and personalising the set-up of the GP23 during Monday’s Jerez MotoGP test.
That included trying a thumb brake on the left handlebar, which factory team manager Davide Tardozzi described as ‘important for riding the Ducati’.
“Marc has never used the rear thumb brake, while we believe that it is important for riding the Ducati, especially in the acceleration phase for controlling the bike,” Tardozzi told Skysport.it.
“We have provided Marc with enough data to be able to understand why and how to use the motorbike better during acceleration.”
Fresh from his debut Ducati grand prix podium in Sunday race, when he battled world champion Francesco Bagnaia for victory in the closing laps, Marquez was also asked to ‘try a few things for Ducati’.
With four grand prix weekends now under his belt, Marquez felt his feedback on bike changes is now much more definitive - yes or no rather than maybe - compared to the pre-season outings in Sepang and Qatar.
“Today was a good day. It was a big difference compared to the tests in Malaysia and Qatar because Malaysia and Qatar I was still trying to understand the way to ride this bike,” Marquez said.
“But today the confidence was there already in the first run. I saw the lap time was already good and then I kept the pace and I was super precise with the comments. I felt everything that we tried in the bike and this is something very important for the future.
“Because in the previous stage, still I was in the way to adapt to the bike, but now we try things and I was super clever [about] what I need. We make small steps but always learning a few things.
“Now I start to bring the bike to my riding style a bit and find the compromise. But I know that will be some race tracks that I will struggle more, but some racetracks we will have a very good potential.”
Marquez set the fifth fastest time at the test, just 0.232s behind the leading lap by VR46’s Fabio di Giannantonio.
