Marc Marquez points to key move by Ducati engineers to kickstart dream season
Marc Marquez credits changes at the Aragon MotoGP test for turning his Ducati into a more manageable bike.
The Aragon MotoGP was the start of Marc Marquez’s ongoing 14-race unbeaten run that has propelled the Ducati Lenovo rider to a huge 175-point title lead.
But while the #93 acknowledges a “step” was made that weekend, he insists it came during the post-race test, not the race weekend.
Asked about brother and closest title rival Alex’s observation that he now looks stronger than at the start of the season, Marc Marquez confirmed:
“Yes, since the Aragon Test we did a step. We did a step in bike setup and also step by step I feel better and better with the new aero. But especially bike setup.”
Marc Marquez explains how he tamed the GP25
The GP25 has proven a complicated machine to master for team-mate Francesco Bagnaia and VR46’s Fabio di Giannantonio.
Yet Marquez explained that the breakthrough was not from a radical shift but by aligning his Desmosedici closer to the base geometry used by the other Ducati riders.
“What we did is only to be closer to the other Ducati riders. And now everybody is riding with the same geometry, same dimensions,” he said.
“So in the first part of the season I was riding with a different bike, more nervous, but now it's a bike that is easier to ride.”
That has been borne out by the race results, with Marquez undefeated since Silverstone in May.
Sprints aside, the last time Marquez won more than seven grands prix in a row was back in 2014.
Not even his dominant 2019 MotoGP season, when he finished first or second at every grand prix bar a DNF at COTA, produced more than five straight victories.
“[Even] in my best dreams it was not normal,” he said of his ongoing win streak during the Balaton Park weekend.
“My best dream was to try to fight for the championship and try to be there close to the top guys and fight until the end.
“Now we have a very big advantage.
"It looks like from summer break we restart in the same way we finished. Just the most important is to keep the concentration and not have that extra [over] confidence.”
Depending on the outcome of next weekend’s Barcelona event, Marquez could mathematically have his first title chance at Ducati’s home round in Misano, which he would need to leave with a 222-point advantage over Alex.
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Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
