“I didn’t talk to Marc Marquez, it was enough to see his smile”

The beaming smile of Marc Marquez after his Ducati debut has been noted ahead of the Portuguese MotoGP..

Marquez will be back in action for Gresini this weekend at Portimao, the second round of the 2024 MotoGP season.

He started with a promising P4 finish in Qatar which whet the appetite for what might lie ahead.

“Qatar was an excellent first GP weekend with Marc on our team,” Carlo Merlini, Gresini Commercial & Marketing Director, told AS.

“I think he has put everything into his approach to the team and the bike and has done everything he can, reaching the end of the race close to the podium, but he saw that this time he couldn't do it and he stayed fourth.

“You have to understand that we were on a track that is not his favourite and that he reached the front positions quickly and that he finished very close to the podium in his first race with this bike.

“It is a dream come true. You know the story of the signing, the path to get here and the dialogue that took place with Marc.

“All of that brought him here and he is already close to the podium.”

Key to understand Marquez’s happiness with his new machinery was his body language after his first race.

“As soon as I arrived at the box after the race I had no option to talk to him,” Merlini said.

“But it was enough to see the smile he had to understand what he felt.

“He had a smile so big that it almost didn't fit on his face.

“And when Marc smiles...

“A sad rider doesn't perform well and Marc is already happy with us.

“That is the reason why he signed for our team. And we were also very happy.”

Merlini explained: “In the tests he didn't know exactly where he was, but now he is certain that he can be in front, be part of the leading group and I think we are going to have a lot of fun with him.

“Alex also had a good race to start and I think we have a good team.

“There are fourth places that leave a bad taste in your mouth, but this initial fourth place from Marc has the taste of a solid performance.

“You know that he did not arrive by luck and that he will be able to be there at the front in almost all the races.

“He said top 5 was the goal, and he achieved it.”

This weekend at Portimao, Marquez is back on his GP23 aiming to chase down Francesco Bagnaia, Jorge Martin and co.