Setup gamble pays off for Marc Marquez with “unexpected” Malaysian MotoGP Sprint podium

Marc Marquez took a Sprint podium at the Malaysian MotoGP with a second place that looked unlikely after Friday.

Marquez was down in 10th place after Practice on Friday afternoon, and was struggling to find speed over one lap.

He was able to qualify fifth, though, and a strong start put him immediately in the podium battle.

“It was a super-good start, and this helps a lot my race,” Marquez said of his Sprint.

“The Sprint was something unexpected, because in practice the GP24s — not only the GP24s, also Pecco [Bagnaia] and [Jorge] Martin — I was very far from their level.

“But when I saw that the lap time was there, when I saw that 1:57, I said ‘Okay, let’s see what we can do’.

“Finishing on the podium was unexpected but also super-good.

“I finished on the podium so I want to take this moment to give this podium, to give all my condolences to Valencia, and in the end it’s nothing to them, but just I want that they feel the support from here.”

Marquez explained that his ability to stand on the podium in the Sprint, aside from his strong start, was down to the growing relationship he has with the Gresini team he joined for this season, allowing him the confidence to try a new setup in qualifying without having tried it in practice.

“The team did a very good job, we changed the setup — in the first part of the season, for example, we were not able to do it,” Marquez said.

“Why? Because now we have the experience of one year with the bike and with the technicians, and immediately when I have problems I know what I need from the bike and they know what I need for my riding style.

“This helps a lot to fix the problems, and to take the risk because for example in qualifying we go out with a setup that was the first time on the track.”

Having built the relationship with Gresini, and particularly with his crew chief Frankie Carchedi throughout 2024, Marquez will have to start again in 2025 as he enters the Ducati Lenovo Team with Marco Rigamonti as his crew chief.

“In my career always I try to keep the same people, because you can have a very good rider or a very good technician,” Marquez said.

“But if you don’t have the human connection it’s impossible, it’s impossible to have a good group and [do] good work.

“But having the experience of one year with this bike it will be easier that transition, I believe, and on the other hand I am arriving on a factory bike in a factory team that they have all the information from this year and there are very good possibilities to help me.”