Why Marc Marquez doesn’t always use a pit board

While most riders have a lap number on their pit boards to ensure they stick exactly to the 4-5 lap run specified, Marquez often prefers the freedom of riding without any lap or lap time information.

“At a test, I ride what I feel. If I go out and try something that is not working, why do I need to stay out for all five laps?” he said.

“And then it's more just to ride in a free way. For example, in the long run I had a pit board with the L12 [Sprint distance] to have a reference. But to try things, you just find a cruise mode and I don't want to have a number of laps.

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“If it's a big change, you [soon] feel if it's better or worse. And this saves time, why do you need to stay out for 5 laps if 2 laps is enough?”

Marquez said he has been testing in this way since “2016-17, when I had experience in the [MotoGP] category and I understood that it was better for me.”

‘Aero not good for the show’

The recent Portimao test, which Marquez finished in 14th place for Honda, saw the likes of Aprilia and Yamaha adding more wings to their bikes.

Marquez feels that MotoGP needs to decide whether pure performance or racing action is more important.

“Every time it's more and more difficult to follow another rider because [the wake from] the aero is changing a lot the bike balance, the way to ride and stopping,” he said.

“We saw Aprilia and Yamaha with [their rear wings]. For the long future [MotoGP] needs to understand which way they want to go. Because for me, for the show, for the race, it’s not the best way.

“For the performance, yes, of course. We're riding faster, but for the show, I feel it's not the best way. But we need to keep going [in this aero direction] because it's what [rules] we have now.”

Any major changes to the MotoGP aero rules are unlikely to be made until the next five-year contract cycle between the manufacturers and Dorna, which starts in 2027.