Alex Márquez Opens Up About Self Doubts

Alex Márquez Opens Up About Self Doubts During "Tough Honda Time"

Categories: MotoGP

After a long period of suffering at Honda, Alex Márquez switches to Gresini Ducati for 2023. He describes how Honda’s lack of performance affected him.

In his two years with the LCR Honda customer team, Alex Márquez was unable to repeat the performances of his rookie year.

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During the 2020 season, the Spaniard was the only Honda rider to score a podium for the Japanese team, which is used to success.

Since his switch to Gresini Racing on the Desmosedici GP22, Márquez has only had positive things to say.

Already at the Sepang test at the beginning of February, the Spaniard showed that he can be competitive with the Ducati.

The fact that Márquez managed to place himself ahead of his old team-mates at Honda in the very first outing made him all the more optimistic for the coming season.

“Yeah, I mean, to see them [Honda] where they are is not a surprise because I know more or less what is going on. It’s not a point that you can change [quickly]. They will need time.”

Tough Moments and a bit of self-doubt

The 2019 Moto2 World Champion was pleased that he hadn’t “forgotten how to ride” and described how self-doubt often haunted him during his Honda days.

“In some moments, you feel like ‘ok, maybe I forgot how to ride a bike’.” Márquez hopes that the hard time at Honda could benefit him in his future career.

“It was really tough moments, but I think these tough moments will help me in the future to be stronger and be a better rider.”

At Ducati, the Spaniard seems to feel more comfortable on his bike again. He was able to immediately notice a change in the way he worked compared to his previous team. At HRC, the 26-year-old had often felt left alone with little support. Since he has been riding for Ducati, however, that has changed.

“They listen to you and give you a lot of tips. For me, I’m new and it’s the first real test that I do with this bike, it’s really important to have the tips and the suggestions that they also have for the technical side.

“They passed by all the boxes every day [at the test] and took notes. So, it’s another mentality of working.”