Quartararo: Marquez ‘will make our life super difficult’ at Ducati

Marquez may have been winless for over two years at Repsol Honda, but Quartararo is certain the six-time premier class champion will be fighting at the front again in 2024.

The Spaniard, a Honda rider since his 2013 MotoGP debut, has reached an agreement with HRC to leave one year before the end of his current contract.

While Gresini Ducati is yet to be confirmed as the #93’s destination, it is considered a formality since it is the only team on the grid with a vacancy, alongside Marc’s younger brother Alex. (Update: Marc Marquez now officially confirmed at Gresini Ducati).

“Yes. It's going to make life really difficult for everyone,” Quartararo said of the Marc Marquez-Ducati combination.

“Marc is the reference of the last 10 years and he will be on a really competitive bike. So yeah, I think he will make our life super difficult next year.”

Quartararo, the 2021 world champion, is enduring his own slump in results at Yamaha, might he consider a similar change?

“At the moment it’s something that is not in my head,” insisted Quartararo, whose contract with Monster Yamaha runs until the end of next season.

Quartararo's current team-mate Franco Morbidelli, who will also switch to Ducati via the Pramac team, next season, said of Marquez's move:

"If he's going to Ducati, it's going to be a great challenge for everybody. Because he is showing that even with the Honda he can be pretty quick. Okay, he makes mistakes, he falls, but he's quick. 

"Let's see what he's going to be able to do on the next bike he jumps on. For sure he's a great rider, an eight-time world champion, the next closest riders [for titles on the grid] are Bagnaia and Mir, with two. So six world championships less [than Marquez]. That explains the value of the rider.

"For sure he's capable of great things, let's see how great. If he's still able to beat the field or not."

Quartararo: High expectations, podium chance

Turning to this weekend’s Indonesian MotoGP, Quartararo revealed he has unusually high expectations due to the unique rear tyre specification used at Mandalika.

“To be honest, I have high expectations, because the tyre we only have [here is used only] one time in the year. It has a different carcass than all the rest of the year,” he said.

“We have a similar tyre in India and in Buriram, but especially here is really hard and I would not say it's an advantage [for us] but it's less an advantage for the Ducati and the others.

“So I expect and I hope we can fight for the podium in this track.”

Quartararo has taken one Sprint and two Sunday podiums so far this season, for tenth in the current world championship standings.