Alex Marquez<\/a>, who\u2019d struggled to get involved in the podium battle at the opening three rounds.<\/p>\nBranding it an \u201cimportant\u201d victory for himself and Ducati, he now views this weekend\u2019s French Grand Prix, as well as the upcoming Catalan and Italian rounds, as vital in proving whether or not his Jerez form was genuine.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat weekend was amazing for us,\u201d he said on Thursday at Le Mans.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI was able to have the speed again, but especially the feeling that I had in 2025.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was able to ride in a really good way.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, just here will be a really good test, also Montmelo and Mugello, we will have three really important weekends for us to test if that feeling we had in Jerez and that performance was just for one day or we can keep it for all the season.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, we will try our best. I think we did one step in the Jerez test, and I think that we are stronger.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut, we need to confirm that in other tracks different to Jerez.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI hope to keep this momentum as long as we can and react a little bit.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s true that the Jerez test is a boost for me, for all the team, for Ducati also.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, it was important after the really tough beginning of the season. So, we are there, looks like we are back, but still many things to confirm.\u201d<\/p>\n
Explaining what was missing on the GP26 for him in terms of feeling prior to the Spanish Grand Prix, Alex Marquez added:\u00a0 \u201cI was missing a little bit\u2026 I was struggling a lot to stop the bike in the correct way, in the correct points.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s true that also my riding style didn\u2019t help in that point.<\/p>\n
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\u201cAnd also with the GP24 I was missing or losing a little bit of time in that point.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut this year in that point I was feeling even worse, the difference was bigger.<\/p>\n
\u201cLooks like from Jerez we were able to have a similar feeling as last year, and I was able to make again the difference in the other points that I\u2019m fast, like traction, or apex, or something like that.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the moment, I\u2019m feeling really at a similar point on the \u201924 bike.\u201d<\/p>\n
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