March 23, 2023
The Honda centaur spoke at the Portuguese GP press conference
Honda centaur Marc Marquez spoke at a press conference before the three-day Portuguese Grand Prix, which opens the 2023 MotoGP World Championship. The Catalan rider feels good, but it’s the bike that worries him: “Finally a winter without the need to recover from a physical problem. We’ve changed a lot at team level, worked on other concepts, with day 2 of the tests here in Portimao which was the most important. We are further behind the leaders of the class, but I think we can fight for the podium, bearing in mind that the season is very long”.
According to Marquez, Ducati and especially Pecco Bagnaia are currently far away: “They now have a very strong package and especially Pecco. We are far away, but even further away from him, but we are working to improve in some areas, unfortunately the same as a year ago. We have to study hard to understand how to approach it”.
The Sprint Races were promoted: “Honestly, I like the idea, but for us riders it will be a further commitment. FP2 on Friday will already be almost a qualifying session to hit the top 10, then there will be the real qualifying on Saturday, then the sprint race and the Sunday race. It won’t be easy, but I think it will be an interesting change.”
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