Marc Marquez says the deficit Ducati faced to Aprilia in Practice for the Indonesian Grand Prix is real, believing the Borgo Panigale marque is at least half a second down on pace.
As was expected heading into the weekend, Aprilia dominated the opening day of track action at Mandalika, with Trackhouse rider Raul Fernandez leading a 1-2-3 for the Noale-based marque after breaking the circuit record in the afternoon.
Marquez ended up fifth on the best of the Ducati bikes, behind even KTM’s Pedro Acosta, with his best effort leaving him 0.7s down on Fernandez and 0.5s behind the top factory Aprilia of Marco Bezzecchi.
Mandalika has always been a bogey track for Ducati, with its fast-flowing layout and the stiffer-rear casing tyres Michelin brings to the circuit proving a difficult combination for the Desmosedici.
Marquez himself has struggled even more at the Indonesian venue, having yet to finish a Sunday race there in three attempts.
While the reigning world champion said Ducati kicked off Friday on a strong note with the second-fastest time in FP1, he conceded that Aprilia had established a sizeable advantage as the day progressed.
Marc Marquez, Ducati Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / Getty Images
“Good, better than expected,” he said, summing up his day. “I expected to be further back, but we’ve started with an acceptable base and this has allowed us to work from a good starting point.
“But as it happened at Assen, as it happened at Silverstone and as we predicted might happen here, the Aprilias are a step ahead. We’ll try to give 100 per cent all weekend to get as close as possible.”
Marquez said he is convinced that the gap to the front was not inflated by any mitigating circumstances, saying Ducati has to try its best to make the most of the circumstances.
“It’s real. Maybe it’s not seven [tenths] maybe five, but Raul was well ahead. I think he even clocked a 29.7 on the medium tyre,” he explained.
“We were half a second back at that point, so the gap is real. We can’t hide from it; you can’t mask the obvious.
“We have to keep working and pushing to get the absolute best out of what we have and salvage the best possible result at Mandalika.”
Ahead of this weekend, Marquez reiterated that he will go on the attack every weekend, even on circuits that have not historically suited his riding style.
But the Spaniard is under no illusions about the challenge he faces at Mandalika, saying even a podium looks optimistic with at least three Aprilia riders – if not all four- expected to run at the front.
“Obviously, you have to face reality. Right now, I’d have to turn things around quite a bit to be in contention for the podium,” he admitted.
“I’m not even talking about victory, just the podium. We’ll see; you never know until the chequered flag.
“First, we’ve got a very important qualifying session, which is perhaps my weak point today on this circuit: the time attack. Because when it comes to race pace, I’m managing okay, but in the time attack, that’s where I find I’m not quite getting the most out of the tyres, for example.
“So, we’ll see. But the reality is that it’ll be difficult to make the podium here; the important thing is to score as many points as possible.”
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