How fitting that after waiting 1043 days to end his winless streak in MotoGP, Marc Marquez’s next premier-class success arrived just one week later. The 32-year-old is back to his best and actually looking like a longshot for the title! 

For the first time since 2021, Marquez has been as fast – if not faster – as anyone in MotoGP for three straight rounds, in wildly different conditions, at completely different tracks. This a sign that he is finally beginning to master Ducati’s year-old GP23. 

“With normal conditions like we had this weekend, it was 2019 (when I was last this strong)”, he said after his Misano success. “I feel that I can play with my body (again) – I’ve started to play more with the bike. Still some weak points, still some points to discover, but every time when you have more confidence you are able to play better with the body and be faster.”

He also pointed to a change during August’s British Grand Prix as key to this recent run. 

Marc Marquez return to form

“The first part of the championship we were super close to (the Ducati GP24s). Then it looks like we struggled. But we cannot forget that it’s my first year with this bike, and it’s my first year with the technicians, and it’s my first year with the team. Sometimes it takes time to know which is the direction. 

“We stayed in that direction, on one base set-up, then we modified it a bit to my riding style. I started to feel better and better, especially in Silverstone where I was struggling a lot. We decided to make a big change and found another way, and I started to feel better and better. I know that I will struggle at some racetracks, but it looks like at the moment with that base set-up I’m closer to them.”

Asked whether there were moments during his time in the wilderness without a win when he doubted his ability to repeat his previous feats, Marquez said last season’s Valencia test – when he first rode the Ducati – was significant. 

“In the Valencia test I realised that we would arrive. There I realised that we will have our opportunities. One thing is to fight for the championship. For that point still we need to keep working. But in Valencia I started to understand that sooner or later it will arrive. For that reason I was calm and I was not over-riding too much.”