Marc Marquez may already be playing ‘mind games’ with Ducati teammate Francesco Bagnaia at Buriram Test

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Marc Marquez set the pace on day one of pre-season testing in Buriram – and the Spaniard may already have a clear advantage over his teammate.

The test in Thailand is important for Ducati as they have to decide whether to run with a 2024 or 2025 spec engine. Davide Tardozzi says a decision will be made today but it is likely the factory team are swaying towards the 2024 engine.

Alex Marquez had been top of the timesheets for Gresini until his brother Marc Marquez stormed through to set the benchmark of 1:29:184. The six-time MotoGP champion was nearly half a second quicker.

The Spanaird’s pace was impressive given he had been struggling with his practice starts. Ducati are flabbergasted by Marquez’s issue, stating he has not done one good one ‘at all’.

Nevertheless, the 31-year-old was the man to beat in Buriram. Marquez was levels above his teammate Francesco Bagnaia who could only manage ninth in the session.

Marc Marquez may be playing ‘mind games’ with Francesco Bagnaia as he plays ‘catch up’ in Buriram

Bagnaia was over eight tenths behind Marquez as he experienced multiple issues on day one in Thailand. Seeing the Italian’s struggles, Jack Appleyard thinks the Spaniard is playing ‘mind games’ as he looks to stamp his authority at Ducati.

Speaking on MotoGP’s After The Flag, Appleyard says he would not be surprised if Marquez put on the soft tyre to ‘rub salt in the wound’ for Bagnaia. The former now has a clear advantage over his teammate.

“From getting the chance to speak to Marc Marquez there, there was just a real aura just oozing confidence there.

“You could just tell, I know it sounds stupid, just the way in which he was stood and just ready to, not sort of big up his performances too much because it’s only pre-season.

READ MORE: Everything to know about Marc Marquez from net worth to girlfriend

“But he knew today was psychologically a bit of a blow to everyone else. The fact that late on he was able to go out and put in that lap.

“And in particular, it wouldn’t surprise me one bit, we know how much Marc Marquez likes to get a stranglehold of teams, likes to play those mind games.

“If he’s looked over to the other side of the box and seen that Bagnaia was having all kinds of troubles with different items, different parts. He went: ‘Guys, stick a soft in this, I’m going to make sure I rub salt in the wounds.’ Would not surprise me one bit.

“And today, it was quite clear Bagnaia’s playing catch up because Marquez certainly feels as those he is ready to go and race tomorrow”.

What Francesco Bagnaia said after day one of Buriram test

Many people in the paddock think Marquez will take Bagnaia apart at Ducati. So far, it seems that the prediction could be correct as the latter endured a miserable day in Thailand.

Bagnaia was ‘far from being happy’ after the session. The 28-year-old has a lot of work to do if he is to rein in the rider on the other side of the garage.

“First of all we have to say it wasn’t our best, lucky day. We had many, many issues over the day and we didn’t have time and [the] chance to make [a] proper choice”, he said after the session.

READ MORE: Everything to know about Francesco Bagnaia from net worth to race number

“Every time I was entering I was having some problems and [it] honestly wasn’t a very clear and easy day. But luckily we have tomorrow, hoping to not have any rain because we are a bit far from being happy.

“And we have to understand what happened today because [there wasn’t] anything [that] was working well. So let’s see tomorrow, hoping we can improve a bit.

“Luckily we have Marc, everything was fine for him. So this is something that helps us to be more confident because in our side of the garage, anything was set”.