MARQUEZ FINDS DUCATI CLOSER TO THE PACE AT MANDALIKA

Marc Marquez left Friday practice at the Indonesian Grand Prix encouraged by his progress, saying he and Ducati were “closer than what we thought yesterday” despite ending the session fifth, seven-tenths of a second behind pace-setter Raul Fernandez.

The seven-time world champion had placed second in FP1, and his Friday showing marked a more promising start at Mandalika than Ducati’s difficult visit last year. Marquez has yet to finish a grand prix at the circuit, which joined the calendar in 2022. He said lessons from the previous event had helped the team establish a stronger starting set-up, while his own outlook was also improved.

“At least we are there, in the middle of the group,” Marquez said. “It’s true that we are not the fastest ones, as we expected, but closer than what we thought yesterday. So, happy.” He added: “My mood is another one. But it’s true that the feeling is better; I’m able to ride with more consistency.”

Marquez said his race pace felt steady, but he was losing ground during time attacks. He hopes to make progress before qualifying, particularly as track conditions may evolve over the weekend. Last year, he observed, the circuit gained rubber and grip as sessions went on, bringing him closer to the leading riders.

He also pointed to warm-up as a potentially important reference, since it typically offers the weekend’s best grip after the sprint race. Data gathered at Mandalika last year, including changes made to the bike in warm-up before his season-ending crash, gave Ducati a better base for this visit. Still, Marquez said the package needed refinement.

“We need to improve some areas to be more consistent — not because I’m inconsistent, but to try to be a bit faster by one, two tenths,” he explained. That gain, he said, could create an opportunity to contend for a top-five or even top-three result.

Fernandez set the benchmark on Friday, breaking the lap record to lead practice for Trackhouse Aprilia. His performance put him ahead of Marquez’s title rivals Marco Bezzecchi and Jorge Martin. Marquez welcomed the result, joking that if an Aprilia was to be strong, he would rather it be Fernandez or Ai Ogura than the other two riders.

However, he cautioned against reading too much into Friday’s order. “We are only on Friday,” he said, noting that Aprilia machines often excel on flowing circuits. “Let’s see. [We’ll] try to work on our strong points.”