A year since Marc Marquez’s game-changing smile, he explains Ducati adaptation

It has been almost a year since Marc Marquez’s smile lit up the MotoGP world.

After testing the Ducati for the first time at the postseason Valencia test, his body language spoke a thousand words and was in stark contrast to how he had acted recently on his Honda.

This weekend in Barcelona, Marquez will race the year-old Desmosedici for the last time before switching to Ducati’s factory-spec machinery in their official team in 2025.

Marquez told Motosan about the smile last year which started his Ducati journey: “It was more of peace of mind with myself, because when making a decision as important as that you have certain doubts.

“And after riding the same bike for 10 years, I had doubts if I would know how to ride the Ducati.

“But that's not because I didn’t see myself capable, otherwise I wouldn’t have made the decision.

“It surprised me, because in the first round I already felt very good.

“It is one of my strong points as a rider: adapting to the conditions at the moment.

“Then, the room for improvement is different, I prefer to reach the high point quickly.”

How Marquez adapted

Marquez explained the stages of adapting from a below-par Honda to the GP23 Ducati which had won the championship the previous year, and is now second only to the GP24.

“The first is to understand how to ride that motorcycle, and you try to adapt to that,” he said.

“There comes a point where you can't adapt anymore, and you start working on what you need to feel more comfortable, or where I'm losing the most.

“Once you explore that point, the technician and rider begin to connect. That's another transition point there in the middle.

“Once you are close to those competitive times, that is where you find that first wall, which is low and you can jump over.

“Then you skip it, and start exploiting more technically tuning details. I said it in Jerez and Austin.

“But each time the wall is higher; now you try and go back, and so on until you hit the key and move forward.”

Marquez has returned to grand prix-winning ways this season, claiming victory three times on a Sunday.

He is third in the championship, with one round to go, a single point ahead of Enea Bastianini.

Marquez has been clearly the fastest of the four GP23 riders, enough to earn him the factory seat next season.

Adjusting to even better Ducati equipment will be the next stage of his remarkable adaptation.