MotoGP, Marc Marquez and that grin that says everything, or almost everything, after his debut with Ducati

Marc Marquez won’t be speaking with the reporters present in Valencia today. Since he’s still under contract with Honda, the Spanish rider will only be able to do so starting with the new year. The contractual constraints must be respected, even if they still allowed him to try the Ducati before the end of the year.

And he did so this morning, at 11:16 am, when he left the Gresini garage with his GP23, facing a crowd of reporters and photographers positioned around garage number 93. Marc did eight rounds, then returned with the third time: 350 thousandths from the reference set by Vinales at 1’30”369.

Obviously, the cameras immediately chased him to capture his first sensations on the Ducati. The members of the team and the Borgo Panigale engineers also eagerly awaited a response from #93. Marc removed his helmet, the plugs from his ears, then turned to his crew chief, Carchedi, with a grin and a raised eyebrow, as if to say: “Did you see that?”.

Marc’s grin is probably worth more than all those words he won’t say to the media tonight. A reassuring smile, which eases the tension that came with this debut in Ducati.

They’re only at the beginning of this adventure. The path that will lead to the first race in Qatar is still long, but maybe Marc had that first feedback he needed on the GP23: a bike that makes him feel safe again, and that makes him fast and competitive, like everyone has known him to be.