The eight-time world champion made his public debut with the Gresini team he will race with this season at its launch on Saturday, after parting ways with Honda at the end of a difficult 2023 campaign.
Marquez made his debut on the bike at the post-season Valencia test last November, ending the day fourth overall and just 0.171 seconds off the pace.
FEATURE: The factors that show Marquez's Ducati debut was a genuine success
He told DAZN later that he adapted quicker to the GP23 Ducati he will race in 2024 than he expected, but has once again moved to quash expectation that he will be a victory contender from the off this season on Saturday at Gresini’s launch.
“One thing is expectation, the other thing is approach,” Marquez said.
“I mean, of course my approach is to try to be fast on the race track, and if I can be faster in the first test, I will try to do it.
“But the other thing is expectation versus reality. Of course, expectations are super high from the people.
“But as I said in this scenario, my work is to try to forget about all these expectations, trying to work in my garage because I need to be calm, especially in the beginning.
“Calm doesn’t mean not being fast. Of course I would like to be fast, but I cannot pretend to [think I can] fight for the victory from the beginning because the last four years were a nightmare for me.
Source: Autosport