Marc Marquez has set a goal of finishing in the top three in the MotoGP standings this year, admitting that keeping factory Ducati rider Enea Bastianini behind “won’t be easy”. Marquez, a Gresini rider, has been a member of MotoGP’s ‘big three’ group this year, together with defending champion Francesco Bagnaia and Pramac ace Jorge Martin, and the trio has swept the podiums at Le Mans and Catalunya.
However, Marquez has found the going difficult on last year’s GP23, with Bastianini posing a serious challenge to him in recent races on the full-factory Desmosedici. Despite finishing third in the German Grand Prix last weekend, the Spaniard has been outscored by Bastianini 61-52 in the last three rounds.
With the 31-year-old now sitting only 11 points clear of the Italian in third place, he says his target is to cement his position instead of hunting down Bagnaia and Martin for the title. This first part of the season has been good. Not super, super good because we made some mistakes but it has been good. We are third in the championship, Marquez admitted at the Sachsenring after finishing second.
It can be a good target trying to be in the first three positions in the championship because it won’t be easy to keep Enea behind. He is a fast rider. We will keep fighting, and keep learning from the top two guys in the Ducati that are Martin and Bagnaia. They are a bit faster than us, the Spanish racer added.
Marquez’s transition to the Ducati with Gresini has been nothing short of spectacular, with the six-time MotoGP champion taking four grand prix podiums in the first nine race weekends and securing a factory deal for 2025. However, there have been some glaring blunders, like his collision with Bagnaia in Portugal and a crash out of the lead at the Americas GP.
His one-lap pace has also been inconsistent, causing him to pass through Q1 several times when he had the ability to qualify in the first four rows. Despite taking pole at Jerez, his average qualifying position following Sachsenring was only 7.4.
When asked to evaluate his year so far with Gresini and Ducati, Marquez rated himself an 8/10 while emphasizing the importance of improving his qualifying to regularly contend at the front. For me, 8 [out of 10] because it was a good start to the season but with a few mistakes, particularly in Austin, followed by the sprint race in Assen. Two major mistakes. The rest are acceptable, he stated.
