Marc Marquez makes telling confession after Thailand MotoGP practice

Marc Marquez says the margin for improvement over the rest of the MotoGP Thai Grand Prix weekend is “small” but is already “on paper” the rider to beat.

The eight-time grand prix world champion topped FP1 at Buriram on Friday morning and was set for a clean sweep in the afternoon until he was pipped by his brother Alex Marquez by 0.052s.

Ending Friday second overall, Marc Marquez’s race pace is also looking like the strongest of the field - picking up up where he left off after pre-season testing.

Marc Marquez P2 in Thailand MotoGP practice

Reflecting on his day, he said: “I expected to start in a good way - or, I was looking to start in a good way.

“In fact, from the first run I found the same feeling as I was riding here in the test.

“That was important. It’s true that this afternoon with hotter temperatures it was a bit more tricky, but we understand really quick the way to fix.

“Good day, solid day, and tomorrow we need to keep going.”

Starting the weekend strongly, Marquez says the fact he is dialled into the Buriram track after testing means there is little room for improvement over the remainder of the round.

“This weekend, not much, because we ride 200 laps in the test here,” he added.

“So, we start already in the morning and we did 29 low in the first run.

“It’s not the normal way to work in a weekend because normally you set up a bike and then you improve a lot.

“But here, the margin is small. It’s true that checking the papers, I saw on the lap times and the race pace that Pecco [Bagnaia] is very close to me, which at the moment on paper [I] have the best pace.

“But the most critical point, or the most important point, will be qualifying tomorrow because starting on that front row, maximum second row, will be the target.”

Team-mate Bagnaia was knocked out of the Q2 places after he was blocked on his final flying lap of Practice by Franco Morbidelli, ending the session 13th.

Ducati’s factory riders will race with the 2024 engine this year, while Marquez acknowledges that his bike is pretty much identical to Alex Marquez’s.

“What I understand, but this maybe Davide Tardozzi or Gigi [Dall’Igna] can answer better, we are riding with the same bike right now,” he said.

“It’s exactly the same. Of course, now the factory team, we will introduce new things over the season that they are already thinking on how to improve.

“But this first race, the bike is very, very similar. This is what I understand, but I don’t know about the mechanics.”

Quotes provided by Crash MotoGP Editor Peter McLaren