Marquez secures impressive fourth place on his debut for Ducati as Vinales dominates Valencia MotoGP test
The Unveiling of Marc Marquez’s Debut with Gresini Ducati
In a surprising turn of events during the first official test ahead of the 2024 season, MotoGP sensation Marc Marquez took to the track on a brand new bike – the Gresini Ducati. This marked a significant milestone in his career as it was the first time he strayed away from his usual Honda motorcycle.
As anticipation grew on Tuesday morning, spectators eagerly awaited Marquez’s first run on his sponsor-less Ducati. At precisely 11:14am local time, approximately seventy-five minutes into the session, he made his grand entrance and quickly established himself as a force to be reckoned with.
Despite being relatively new to this unfamiliar bike, Marquez impressed by finishing third fastest after his initial run. With still over an hour and a half remaining in the day, he managed to climb up to first place with an impressive lap time of 1m29.460s before further improving it to 1m29.424s.
However, as fate would have it, Marquez relinquished his top spot and ultimately finished fourth for the day when Vinales set an even faster pace with a remarkable lap time of 1m29.253s aboard the 2024 RS-GP.
The cold and windy conditions proved challenging for all riders during this opening hour of testing; only six competitors managed to post lap times within this period. One notable mention goes out to Jack Miller, who showcased his skills on the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s new aerodynamic concept, cleverly disguised by a camo livery.
Other noteworthy performances came from Marco Bezzecchi on his 2023-spec VR46 Ducati, just edging ahead of Marquez by 0.078s. Raul Fernandez also caught attention as he tested for Aprilia amidst recent troubles faced by RNF Racing.
Alex Marquez demonstrated his adaptability to the power delivery of the 2023 Ducati and secured sixth place for Gresini Ducati. Fabio Di Giannantonio made an impressive debut with VR46 in seventh position.
Enea Bastianini led Miller on their factory Ducatis, while Luca Marini faced some challenges during his Honda debut but managed to secure tenth place despite being 0.703s off the pace set by Vinales.
The reigning world champion Francesco Bagnaia finished eleventh followed closely behind by Fabio Quartararo on the updated 2024-spec prototype Yamaha. Joan Mir rounded up this session in thirteenth position.
Jorge Martin encountered some mishaps as he crashed twice during Tuesday’s testing sessions, with the first incident occurring when he embarked upon his initial run with the new 2024-spec Ducati bike provided to him at Pramac Racing.
Pedro Acosta, a rookie in MotoGP, had a challenging day as well after experiencing a tumble on his Tech3 GasGas bike which resulted in him finishing eighteenth and trailing behind by approximately one second compared to other riders’ lap times.
Aprilia rider Aleix Espargaro decided to halt testing early after completing only seventeen laps due to discomfort stemming from a leg fracture sustained two weeks ago during racing activities in Qatar; hence ending up twenty-second.
Alex Rins, who made his Yamaha debut during this testing session, finished nineteenth and was approximately 1.3 seconds off the pace set by Vinales.