MotoGP, Marc Marquez: "Did I lose in Qatar because of the bike? No, it was my fault."

Finishing 4th behind Jorge Martin in the first round of the 2024 MotoGP World Championship in Qatar, Marc Marquez couldn't do much against his teammate in reaching the podium. It was within reach for a stretch, and it would've been resounding if had been able to get on it. In his first race weekend riding the Ducati, the eight-time world champion had to contend with an alleged gap in performance between the Pramac rider's GP24 and his GP23.

A gap that also didn't go unnoticed by Jorge Lorenzo, who's now a commentator for DAZN and who pointed out to his former rival the difference between the two bikes, which appeared even more penalizing in the long race. "It surprised me to see so much of a difference in speed between you and Martin," Jorge commented. "It didn't seem like that in the sprint race but, on Sunday, it became clear that you were missing two or three tenths of an engine. I don't know why. At this point, the question is, what are you missing to win? Did the track influence you? I remember that you weren't very successful here."

To such a direct question, the rider from Cervera was contrite and exonerated his Team Gresini Desmosedici. "Actually, I only won here in 2014," he dotted his i's. "Losail has always gotten me into trouble. But, on this occasion, my goal was to finish in the top five in both rounds. That said, more than the lack of engine power, I made a mistake, coming out of the last corner badly."

To support his argument, the 31-year-old said, "I did really well on Saturday, but we decided to make some small changes, thinking they'd help me. Instead, they didn't help. On the contrary, they made me lose in acceleration, a key element in head-to-head races. In general, the benefits didn't compensate for the disadvantages. Something we'll have to keep in mind for the rest of the season. I'll have to try to manage the fast corners better, as well as the front tire. I felt more at ease in the sprint, while I struggled a bit on the bike in Sunday's race. This is going to have to be a lesson for us," the rider from Spain concluded.