Marini: 'I’m worse than Lorenzo!' asking Ducati 'a lot' for ergonomic changes

Luca Marini has claimed top spot on day two of the Mandalika MotoGP test following an impressive time attack performance late on.  

Sat around the top ten for much of the day, Marini bolted to the top of the leaderboard after setting a 1:31.289s which was just under two tenths faster than Repsol Honda rider Marc Marquez. 

While his one lap pace was impressive, Marini felt more performance needed to come from his race run, something he will attempt to find during Sunday’s day two. 

"Today was a very positive day. Aside from the time attack we did a good job. We worked very well from the start of the day," added the second-year MotoGP rider. 

"The feeling with the bike here improved a lot during the day. I was quite comfortable riding the bike, also with the used tyres. I think I have good potential on this track. 

"I love the layout of the track and today with a lot more grip it’s easier for everybody to ride the bike. I could enjoy it a lot.  I think we still need to work a little bit on the bike, try to improve some tenths on the race pace and tomorrow I will do a race simulation. 

"But I’m really happy about the time attack today. It was a good lap. If the weather conditions are good then we can go on the 30s high. 

"I don’t know if we will have time to try a time attack because I need to check what we need to try. We still have some new stuff to try, also something on the setting and the electronics side." 

A key area of improvement for Marini with the new Desmosedici GP22 has been his body position on the bike. 

With the former 2020 Moto2 runner-up currently the tallest rider on the grid (6ft), finding the most comfortable, yet fastest ergonomic set-up on the bike was an issue all throughout his rookie season. 

And despite steps being made, Marini has alluded to losing a bit of speed on the straights, while also joking that he’s more demanding than former Ducati rider Jorge Lorenzo.  

"I’m still working on it," Marini said of his riding position on the bike. "It’s incredible. I’m worse than Jorge Lorenzo I think. [laughs] I’m asking a lot and maybe Ducati is hating me! But this year I feel much better on the bike. 

"The GP22 has a little more space and it’s fantastic. I hope for Qatar we can do something more because not to be more comfortable I’ve lost a little bit on the straight. 

"Here speed is not important but in Qatar yes. We are still thinking about something to be more competitive and still feel as comfortable as now."