MotoGP rookie “learnt a lot” training with Marc Marquez

Diogo Moreira says he “learnt a lot” during the preparation his rookie MotoGP season, much of which he spent training with Alex and Marc Marquez.

Moreira steps up as the reigning Moto2 World Champion this year with the LCR Honda team, while Marc Marquez enters this year as the reigning MotoGP World Champion and Alex Marquez as the MotoGP runner-up.

For Moreira, then, they were perhaps the perfect training partners ahead of his rookie year and the Brazilian says he feels ready to begin.

“At the end, I think we are ready to start this season,” Diogo Moreira told MotoGP.com at the LCR Honda season launch. 

“We made a very good job this winter, we trained a lot. I think after Valencia, the last race, we stopped only one week, so I think we are ready to start. 

“We trained a lot together with Marc [Marquez] and Alex [Marquez] – at the end, it’s very good to train with him, and also I learnt a lot. I think we’re ready to start the season.

Moreira had his first taste of MotoGP at the Valencia test last November, and he was back on-track in Sepang this week (29–31 January) for the Shakedown test, which he ended by improving his best lap time by 1.6 seconds between the second and third days.

“At the end, it was super-good,” Moreira said.

“I think we made a very good job these three days in Malaysia, but at the end we need to keep working on the new bike, try to understand more where is the limit. I think we are ready to [go] to Thailand.”