Alex Marquez “not a super fan of slide control” but must “take profit”

After pulling a further 25 points clear of title runner-up rival Francesco Bagnaia during the San Marino MotoGP weekend, Alex Marquez spent much of the Misano test working on the new slide control function.

Introduced in Austria, the main purpose of the system is to help prevent highsides that traction control alone can’t catch.

But there is also a performance element, which Marquez says they must try to exploit.

“We have that new slide control from Austria. ‘SC’, as they say in Ducati. So after all these races, they have more information, and so they tried to improve a little bit,” said Gresini rider Alex.

“We were just trying to understand better what is going on with that control.

“I mean, it's for safety, but you also try to improve in performance,” he explained. “Especially when the tyres drop, it's a little bit easier.

“We saw it from the data, that it was easier for the riders. So I'm not a super fan of that slide control. I think the rider should make more the difference, but it's in the rules and we need to take profit from it.”

Alex Marquez also made some small changes to the set-up on his way to leading the morning session, then finishing second overall to Pedro Acosta (KTM) in the afternoon.

“I was slightly faster with used tyres than in the race, when I struggled a little bit in the last laps,” said Alex, who finished runner-up in the San Marino Sprint and third in the Grand Prix.

“So maybe we found something on the setup, but not a lot. Just some improvement on balance, but not a big thing. So it was really an easy test for us.”

Alex, now confirmed as having factory spec Ducati machinery in 2026, arrives at this weekend’s Motegi round as Marc’s last remaining title challenger.

While Marc is 182-points ahead at the top, Alex is 93-points clear of Bagnaia, with six rounds to go.