Honda's Marc Marquez says he is “able to ride more in my normal style” in the Qatar MotoGP pre-season test, and that his shoulder has improved by a “massive step” since the Sepang test.
Marquez underwent surgery on a recurring left shoulder dislocation in December, and made his first appearance on his MotoGP bike since the operation two weeks ago at the Sepang test.
He complained of a lack of endurance on his shoulder Malaysia, but said after finishing Saturday's running in Qatar 10th fastest that the “power” in his shoulder “is there”, even if he still feels some pain in certain areas.
When asked to assess his day, he said: “Honestly, I'm happy. About my physical condition I'm happy, because compared to the Malaysia test we did a massive step [in recovery].
“Of course, in some areas I still feel some pain, but the power is there. So this is important, and still remains two weeks until the first race.
“So I'm happy because it's coming better, and now it looks like I'm able to ride more in my normal style.”
Ending the day 1.1 seconds from pacesetter Maverick Vinales on the Yamaha, Marquez admits the set-up Honda used from Sepang did not work at Losail, and says HRC needs to work “in a different way” to close down its rivals.
“Honestly speaking, we had some issues on the set-up and we need to work there and understand, because Ducati riders and Yamaha riders are far from us,” he conceded.
“It's true that in this circuit we normally struggle, it's true two days more in front. But we need to work in a different way to be closer to them.
“Still we need to work, we need to understand many things. We start here with the Sepang set-up, but looks like it is not working here.
“But we didn't have time to change, because, like we know, here there's maybe three, four hours [of optimal conditions] to test.
“So we didn't have time to change everything, and now it's time to analyse everything and start tomorrow with a different set-up.”
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