Marc Marquez hails “perfect Friday” at Aragon MotoGP

Marc Marquez enjoyed his best Friday of 2024 at the Aragon MotoGP, topping both sessions and setting a new lap record in the afternoon.

Coming into the weekend, as he’d said in Germany, a perfect weekend would allow Marquez to fight with the likes of Francesco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin.

“It was a perfect Friday,” Marquez admitted to MotoGP.com after Friday Practice, “and perfect conditions for my riding style, especially because it was a bit slippery and it looks like the other riders struggle a little bit more than me.

“We were the fastest rider out there, it’s true, but it’s only Friday so we need to keep going and keep pushing.”

Marquez is aware of the trends of recent races, though, where the fastest riders have been Martin and Bagnaia, both of whom made clear steps forward from the morning to the afternoon.

“I know that Pecco [Bagnaia] and [Jorge] Martin will arrive tomorrow, because they are fast and they did already a big step this afternoon,” Marquez said. “But we will try to focus on ourselves and try to concentrate.”

For Marquez, his form in Aragon is a continuation of the good feeling he had with the bike in Austria.

“Austria was a super-good weekend for me, in terms of feeling with the bike,” he said. “This weekend we start again with an amazing feeling and I’m enjoying a lot. The problem is that it’s only Friday, so we need to keep going.

“Tomorrow there will be an important qualifying that will be the key of the weekend, as always it’s the most important practice, and if we cans tart on the front row everything is possible.”

As well as qualifying, Marquez pointed out that track evolution MotorLand’s new surface will be a key point of the weekend.

“The key of the weekend will be understanding the track conditions,” he said.

“It’s improving every time. This morning we were riding in one way, this afternoon we started to change a bit the setup and especially the riding style to another way. So, with this will be the most important point.”