Alex Marquez’s Ducati is “worse than 2022, we need to adapt better”

Alex Marquez’s feedback after his first day of testing in Sepang shed light on the challenges faced by Gresini Ducati.

The younger Marquez brother’s Tuesday was highlighted by a fall at Turn 2 then a seventh-placed finish, +0.591s behind leader Jorge Martin.

But his words about the development of his ‘23 Ducati - which he will begin using this season - show there is still work to be done. He rode the standard GP23 on Tuesday, without the upgrades enjoyed by Francesco Bagnaia or Jorge Martin last season.

“Honestly speaking, worse than ‘22 in this moment,” Alex said.

“We need to adapt better.

“In the last run of the day we found something.

“I was able to make [1:58.5] with used tyres. It’s not a bad time.

“We need to see if this is the way to follow or if we need to change more.

“Here, with the ‘22 bike on the GP, I had a better feeling.

“Especially in the turning area I was struggling a lot today.”

Asked where he struggled, Alex said: “A little bit of everything. I didn’t do a time attack because I had 12 kilos in a full tank.

“I was with a set-up which I didn’t like. I had a lot of problems, big movements.

“Later on, when we tried the last run, it was much better.

“We didn’t have a lot of margin to improve.

“For the first day, the feeling was not bad. I was riding, approaching the braking point in the correct [way[. We need to be happy for that.

“And find the solution for tomorrow, see what we can try.”

He did, at least, have a better day than Gresini’s other superstar rider.

Marc Marquez, his brother and his new teammate, had to clarify afterwards that he first crash of a Ducati was a “misunderstanding” because he did not actually fall.

But Marc was blighted with technical issues on Tuesday.

Alex accepted his own day was better: “Yes. I am more lucky with the technical problems.

“I did a normal day. I did a small crash on the first corner - something strange, I touched the inside corner. The power delivery was not clean.

“It was strange. Apart from that stupid crash, everything was working well.”

The Marquez brothers will hope the technical issues faced on Tuesday will be solved by the second day of the Sepang test.