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Category: Moto GP
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It was an important day for Team Gresini Racing MotoGP, who said its final goodbye to Marc Márquez and welcomed the 19-year-old Fermín Aldeguer. It was a solid debut for the MotoGP rookie, who finished his first day as a premier class rider with the 20th lap-time (1’40.546secs), a little over one and a half seconds away from his teammate.
The rider #73 was the true protagonist of the day. The Desmosedici GP24 appears to be tailored around the style of the younger of the two Márquez brothers, who will enter his holidays with the best possible feeling ahead of 2025.
1st - ALEX MARQUEZ #73 (1’38.803s)
“I felt better in each outing with the new bike. I did a run with the 23 this morning before riding with the new one. I really liked the latter; I had fun and it showed. I crashed while trying to find the limit, but I could have easily avoided that. Now we’ll relax a little, but I admit I’m looking forward to 2025!”
20th - FERMIN ALDEGUER #54 (1’40.546s)
“I’m very, very happy with this first day. I felt comfortable on the bike straight away and felt fast. Braking is the area that impressed me the most, and generally speaking it was an incredible day. There’s plenty to do, of course, but the atmosphere within the team is incredible and, crash aside, I think we did a good job. I still need to get used to everything, but I’m very happy. Without the crash, I surely would have done a little better lap-time wise.”
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Team Gresini Racing MotoGP wraps up the penultimate day of the 2024 season with both riders able to secure points in the sprint race. Alex Marquez is fifth at the line after a good battle for the podium with Bastianini and Espargarò.
The #73 unfortunately ran wide with two laps left, which prevented him to stay in contention for a top three finish. Five points for him, which allow him to defend his top ten positioning in the championship standings and Aleix Espargaró and also get closer to Di Giannantonio and Morbidelli – both only five points away.
Marc Marquez had more of a challenging race right from the start, when he came close to a coming together at the start. The collision came moments afterwards with Pedro Acosta. With the rear wings out of service, he had to ride defensively for the whole encounter. His seventh-place finish results in a six point loss from Bastianini (who was second today): the third place in the final standings is now five points away.
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5th - ALEX MARQUEZ #73
“I’m happy with the sprint race and upset for a qualifying in which I made too many mistakes. Then I was quite lucky at the start and had an easy life in the first turns, which allowed me to recover many positions. Then the desire for a podium cost me fourth place… In any case, the feeling was good and was the best positioned GP23 rider, so tomorrow we need to aim at recovering some positions in the standings.”
7th - MARC MARQUEZ #93
“It was a challenging sprint race; I didn’t have the right feeling, and we have some work to do tomorrow to do better. A top five finish would be a good result, and the goal is the top three in the championship, but we’re struggling a bit too much right now. I struggled at the start to avoid Jorge and Pecco, went wide and lost time, then had a coming together with Acosta. Nobody’s fault, but it did cost me time.”
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The last show of the season has begun around the fast Montmeló circuit near Barcelona. Alex Marquez and Marc Marquez did not disappoint as they both secured the direct seed to Q2 in their absolute home round.
Team Gresini Racing MotoGP therefore achieves an important one-two in what is the season finale for 2024, with both riders that will do their best for their own personal goals with regards to their final championship positions.
7th - ALEX MARQUEZ #73 (1’39.295s)
“It was a fun day. We tried several things this morning and, in the afternoon, the feeling was positive. Obviously, the track is very different, condition-wise, compared to last May, but we’re in a good moment and we showed it today. There’s still work to do, and we’ll be back on track tomorrow with the goal to improve some more, without the pressure of having to make it into Q2.”
8th - MARC MARQUEZ #93 (1’39.361s)
“Even though the conditions were very different compared to last May, I’m still having a challenging time at this track. We’re losing a lot of time in the second half of the track, but we have an idea on what to work on tomorrow. Despite all of the above, unlike last time we’re in Q2 at the first try, so at least we’ll have a head start compared to a few months ago.”
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MARC CRASHES OUT OF PODIUM CONTENTION, BUT REMAINS THIRD IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
Alex Marquez has finished fourth in today’s race at the Sepang International Circuit, which proves to be one of his favourite tracks on the calendar. This is one of his best results of the season after the podium scored in Sachsenring. It was an excellent performance for the #73, who had a great start on both occasions (the original encounter was red flagged on the opening lap) and showed a great pace, which allowed him to defend his position from a resurging Acosta. The 13 points bagged today are crucial for the championship standings as Alex is now 10th after overtaking Aleix Espargaró.
It would be a top five finish for Alex had it not been for the crash by his brother Marc, who tucked the front at the last turn at halfway distance. The #93 did not give up and managed to re-join the race and from last place, he made his was back to 12th position, to secure four crucial points that keep him ahead of Enea Bastianini for third place overall.
4th - ALEX MARQUEZ #73 (10th in the championship standings 155 points)
“We scored some important points this weekend while finding fresh confidence and the feeling we lacked in recent races. It wasn’t an easy race because we had to stay focused after the red flag, and I wasn’t feeling too well due to a cold, which prevented me from getting a good night sleep. I must thank the team because they were really supportive in my toughest moments, and we need to enjoy this time now that we’re back at our real level.”
12th - MARC MARQUEZ #93 (3rd in the championship standings 369 points)
“We had a very positive weekend, both yesterday and today, on a track that has always been a challenging one for me. There are those days in which you don’t really know why you crashed: I was feeling comfortable today and I knew I could have battled for third-fourth place… But it is what it is, there’s one event left, and we’ll try to finish the season the best possible way.”
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The second day of action smiles to Team Gresini MotoGP who shine in qualifying with Alex Marquez’s front-row worthy qualifying and do even better in the race with Marc second behind an uncatchable Martin and Alex fourth at the chequered flag.
Marc Marquez takes another step towards third place in the final championship standings courtesy of what was his 21st rostrum finishing across all races (sprint and full distance encounters), while Alex is only one point away from the world championship top ten.
2nd - MARC MARQUEZ #93 (3rd in the chamionship standings with 365 points)
“I did a great start and honestly, I didn’t expect to be this quick race-pace wise. On paper we were aiming realistically at fourth place but with the last fine tuning I found myself very comfortable and third was within reach. Pecco’s crash opened the door to second place, a result I dedicate to the whole Valencian community.”
4th - ALEX MARQUEZ #73 (11th in the championship standings with 142 points)
“I had a good start, but unfortunately the others in front of me did even better. We did a good race, and our pace was worthy of a fifth place, maybe even fourth as I didn’t expect Marc to be so quick today, but we must be happy with this race. The goal tomorrow will be more or less the same. If it rains, anything can happen, but at the moment we’re ready to be in the top five.”
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