Lorenzo on Marquez: “He is riding as if he were riding a Honda”
Jorge Lorenzo gives his assessment of Marc Marquez’s performance going into 2024.
Shehryar Bin Shahid 7th March 2024
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Speaking to Spanish news publication Marca, five times world champion Jorge Lorenzo was able to give his few thoughts on how Marc Marquez is going to compare against other Ducatis.
Being championship rivals in the mid-2010s to sharing the garage as teammates for the Repsol Honda Team in 2019, Jorge Lorenzo knows the ins and outs of what Marc Marquez is truly capable of when riding a bike.
According to Jorge Lorenzo, Marc Marquez’s competitiveness in 2024 will depend on the approach Marquez has towards riding the Ducati, but more so, it will depend on the competitive difference between the Ducati GP24 and the GP23 that Marquez is riding.
“Marc’s debut with the Ducati in Valencia was quite impressive,” said the Majorcan. “Everyone thought that Márquez would win all the races this year, but I don’t think it will be like that, as seen in Sepang, where he had some difficulties.”
“How long will Márquez need to fully understand the Ducati? He is still riding as if he were riding a Honda.”
“How much difference will there be between the Ducati 2023 and the Ducati 2024? You have to know how much Ducati has evolved this bike from one year to the next.”
“If the difference is very big, Jorge Martín and Bagnaia are not exactly bad riders. They are very fast and very explosive, and if they have a better bike than Marc’s, who also doesn’t have as much experience with the Ducati, this could be very important.”
Jorge Lorenzo was also quick to point out the possibilities of past injuries affecting Marquez’s adaptability on the new machine.
“Is his arm completely recovered, or does he still need time to reach his maximum level? Will he be the same as before (from the serious injury suffered in Jerez in 2020) on a physical level? That is something that only he and his environment know.”
So where does Marquez stand currently?
Marc Marquez did end the Qatar preseason test as the fastest GP23 rider in the combined timing sheets, but his sprint and race capabilities remain unclear, as the Spaniard didn’t string together many laps to justify a strong race and sprint rhythm.
Comparatively, amongst the GP23s, it looks like Fabio Digiannantonio’s runs were way more impressive, as the Italian’s sprint runs were neck and neck with championship favorite Francesco Bagnaia.
One could even argue that his pace was more impressive than Bagnaia’s, as he completed a full sprint run whereas Bagnaia only completed seven laps on his best sprint run.
Marquez remains a dark horse going into this season, but a general rule of thumb would suggest that after the Qatar preseason tests, he ranks as the fifth-fastest Ducati, right behind the likes of Bagnaia, Martin, Bastianini, and the lead GP23 of Fabio Digiannantonio.
But all this could change in an instant, once the bikes roll out for Friday practice on March 8th.
| Aleix Esparagaro's 7 lap run | Pecco Bagnaia's 7 lap run | Fabio Digiannantonio's 11 lap run | Enea Bastianini's 10 lap run | Jorge Martin's 6 lap run |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1'52.293 | 1'52.450 | 1'52.587 | 1'52.165 | 1'52.530 |
| 1'52.158 | 1'51.850 | 1'52.638 | 1'52.016 | 1'52.327 |
| 1'51.964 | 1'52.069 | 1'52.320 | 1'52.213 | 1'52.500 |
| 1'51.931 | 1'52.528 | 1'52.467 | 1'52.438 | 1'53.733 |
| 1'52.344 | 1'52.381 | 1'52.496 | 1'52.536 | 1'52.746 |
| 1'52.014 | 1'52.468 | 1'52.442 | 1'52.798 | 1'52.648 |
| 1'52.039 | 1'53.262 | 1'52.391 | 1'52.550 | |
| 1'52.429 | 1'52.879 | |||
| 1'52.603 | 1'53.045 | |||
| 1'53.020 | 1'52.771 | |||
| 1'52.472 | ||||
| Avg: 1'52.106 | Avg: 1'52.429 | Avg: 1'52.533 | Avg: 1'52.5411 | Avg: 1'52.747 |
