How Alex Marquez rediscovered his mojo at the Spanish GP

3 hours ago 2

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Alex Marquez has outlined the factors behind his turnaround in form after claiming a dominant victory at the Spanish Grand Prix.

The Gresini rider was in top form the opening practice session on Friday and only a sudden downpour in the sprint prevented him from scoring a clean sweep of victories across the weekend.

While Ducati had the fastest bike all weekend, he had the upper hand on his brother Marc Marquez as well as VR46’s Fabio di Giannantonio, as he led the Borgo Panigale marque to its first win since last year’s Malaysian GP.

The result marked a significant return to form for the 30-year-old, who had managed a best result of fourth (Austin sprint) across the three rounds of the season. Nowhere in the early flyaway races had he appeared confident aboard the GP26.

But a return to Jerez, the scene of his maiden MotoGP victory a year ago, provided a welcome morale boost, even if he had played down his chances heading into the weekend.

Beyond the psychological lift, Marquez also felt he was able to get the maximum out of the bike - something he failed to do in the opening salvo of races.

“Honestly, we need to analyse what happened compared to the first three weeks of the beginning of the season,” he said. “But anyway, I was riding over the problems [at Jerez], just thinking about the positive things, just pushing with the team and Ducati over the problems.

“I extracted the positive thing that this bike has that we were not able to strike in the first three races. It was a really unexpected [result].”

Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images

Naturally, with an extended four-week break on the calendar, Ducati was able to bring several new parts to Jerez - with Marquez able to run those immediately now that he has a factory-spec bike. In fact, Gresini brought forward the introduction of some components that were originally earmarked for the post-race test on Monday.

Marquez was tight-lipped about the changes Ducati has made to his GP26, but offered some clues about the updates: “We introduced a few things, small ones. The only thing you can see clearly is the new rear aerodynamics. The other things you need to imagine.”

Those updates, combined with his own adaptability, gave Marquez a similar feeling to the one he enjoyed last year, when he was finishing on the podium virtually every race weekend.

“At the moment, yes, the feeling that I had was really similar to last year,” he said.

“But it’s too early and we need to analyse what we did differently this weekend. Also, Le Mans, Mugello and Montmelo will be important to understand if this step we did here [is genuine] or is just one weekend. So it will be important to keep pushing.”

While Marquez has always been strong at right-hand corners, he also appeared quick at left turns at Jerez. This difference was noted by none other than his brother Marc Marquez, who is famous for his strength in left-hand corners.

Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images

Alex Marquez explained how the time he spent training with his brother allowed him to close the gap in a key area.

“I always try to work at home and improve in that area. I’m training everyday with Marc - flat track and even motocross,” he said.

“I see what he is doing and try to improve. Many times, it is just about feeling, and this weekend, from the first time on track, I felt my bike was turning really good on the left parts like Turns 4, 7 and 8.

“I was able to not make the difference compared to Marc, but at least be at the same level.”