Quatararo fears Ducati speed ahead of new season
MotoGP opens a marathon season on Sunday in Qatar with champion Fabio Quartararo trying to hold off Francesco Bagnaia on the faster Ducati, while both glance back anxiously at Marc Marquez.
Marquez has made it clear he is chasing a man who has left the circuit. Valentino Rossi retired at the end of last season after racing in the elite category since 2000, two years before MotoGP was created.
The Italian won seven top-class world titles. At a few days past his 29th birthday, Marquez has six.
"My goal is to fight for the title," Marquez said at the Honda team presentation, but he added that the competition would be tough.
"Fabio was champion, and he deserves to be because he was the most consistent, but Pecco Bagnaia ended the year being the fastest with the Ducati."
Marquez returned last season after crashing a few laps into the 2020 campaign. For much of last season, he struggled and he sat out the last two races with double vision.
With one good arm, he still won three races, all at tracks with an emphasis on left-turning corners, which the Spaniard preferred even before smashing his right arm.
"Today everything looks good, the vision is perfect, the arm is better too," he said in February.
Worryingly for his rivals, the revamped Honda seems to be quicker. The second factory rider, Pol Espargaro, set the best time at pre-season testing in Indonesia and then declared: "I've never been so fast."
That might not be an entirely a good thing for Marquez. In previous seasons, the Honda bikes have been set up to suit his risky and aggressive riding style.
Quartararo, a 22-year-old Frenchman, has also made a habit of winning with bikes on which others struggle. Last season he collected 278 points while the other three men who raced factory Yamahas over the season collected just 31.
After winning five of last season's first 12 races, Quartararo struggled to keep up with the accelerating Ducatis as Italian Bagnaia won four of the last six.
At testing, the Frenchman complained to the motorbike media that Yamaha has been unable to deliver a greater top speed.
"Last year we were an average 9kph (slower), today we are at 9kph. So we didn't make any steps forward," he said.
"If you have no power, you adapt yourself, like I did in the past. So, if we need to adapt we're going to adapt."
Yet while Quartararo has a lower top speed than the Bologna Bullets, testing suggested he still compensates with the best average speed over a lap.
While Yamaha, KTM and Honda will all have one satellite team this season, Ducati has three.
"When you know that there will be eight Ducatis, eight of the fastest bikes ever, it will be difficult," said Quartararo.
It is going to be a long season.
After 14 races in 2020, all in Europe, and 18 last year in a second Covid-curtailed season, there are 21 on the schedule. That is up from the 19 in each of the two seasons before the pandemic.
Finland makes its belated return after a 40-year gap. Indonesia, which hosted two races in the 1990s, is also added. Australia, Argentina, Japan, Thailand and Malaysia, all cancelled in each of the last two seasons, are scheduled to run in a season that stretches to November 6
(责任编辑:新闻中心)
-
Flying spaghetti monster and unworldly life filmed in deep sea footage
Scientists discovered a giant underwater mountain. And it's teeming with deep sea life.An endeavor a ...[详细] -
本报讯3月8日上午9时30分,随着一声嘹亮的法槌声响,为宝兴县法院敲响了一审民事案件适用普通程序独任审理的第一槌,这是新修订的《中华人民共和国民事诉讼法》自正式施行以来,宝兴县法院首次由一名审判员适用 ...[详细]
-
本报讯春节前夕,雨城区法院执行局执行利剑再出鞘,通过司法春节大拜年,助力群众过佳节。该局利用被执行人返乡回家过年之际,集中开展涉民生专项执行行动,对一批拒不履行法院生效法律文书的被执行人采取强制惩戒措 ...[详细]
-
雅安仁康医院院长崔建强与张先生交流 近日,带着洗漱用品和换洗衣裳,张先生悄悄住进雅安仁康医院雅安结石病医院)以下简称:雅安仁康医院)。在电话联系妻子到仁康医院照顾他后,不忘提醒妻子:先别告诉大女儿。父 ...[详细]
-
Pressure boost squeezes out more hydrogen from artificial leaves
Hydrogen-producing artificial leaves might soon be even better at their jobs thanks to a new study t ...[详细] -
“5·20”汉源县4.8级地震 雅安全力开展抢险救援和灾情核查工作
记者从市应急管理局获悉,2022年5月20日08时36分,四川雅安市汉源县发生4.8级地震,震源深度20千米。截至5月20日12时,暂未收到人员伤亡及房屋倒塌信息。地震发生后,雅安市抗震救灾指挥部紧急 ...[详细] -
本报讯近日,石棉县希望小学邀请新棉派出所民警到校开展“法律知识进校园”专题讲座,为全校近两千名师生宣讲法治知识。春季开学以来,石棉县希望小学为进一步加强新时代校园法治建设,创建安全、文明的校园环境,不 ...[详细]
-
张承林:水肥一体化是未来种植技术中的核心技术_南方+_南方plus以色列大棚番茄亩产30-45吨;荷兰温室采用滴灌岩棉番茄,亩产最高可达65吨;以色列在南美洲秘鲁的沙漠用滴灌技术种葡萄,高产又优质…… ...[详细]
-
Pakistan Cricket at crossroads after shock defeat at Pindi
KARACHI:Bangladesh cricket team's stunning ten-wicket Test victory at Rawalpindi on Sunday yet a ...[详细] -
以数据要素乘数效应助力现代农业!“数据要素×”三年行动计划发布
以数据要素乘数效应助力现代农业!“数据要素×”三年行动计划发布_南方+_南方plus近日,国家数据局等17部门联合印发《“数据要素×”三年行动计划2024—2026年)》以下简称“《行动计划》”)。作 ...[详细]