Marc Mar♚quez’s adaptation to the Ducati may be more challenging because of his advancing years, Simon Crafar🗹 believes.

Marquez spent 11 seasons riding for Honda, winnin💯g eight world champions🍰hips along the way.

But he has joined Gresini to ride a🍷 year-old Ducati in 2024, hoping he can fight for th🐼e MotoGP title on new machinery.

“H✃e’s in his 30s now,” warned ex-racer Crafar from inside the Qatar testing paddock.

“From my own experience, it b༺ecomes more difficult to adapt.

“The younger you are, the quicker you can adapt to new bikes,🦹 tyres, set-ups.

“You can tell he’s not joking. He’s no♌t pretending.

“He’s havin💮g difficulty changing from the Honda riding style to the Ducati riding style.

“But he’s going to do it!”

Marquez, aged 31, had♒ a fairly low-key preseason through Sepang and Qatar, after shining in the postseason test at Valencia on his Ducati debut last year.

His crash - his first on a Ducati - in the final hour of the final day of 🌳testing could be interpreted as Marquez finding more confidence to edge nearer to the limit of his new bike.

Crafar said on the final day of the test: “Whenever it comes to crunch time꧙ - which is now, the end of the test, you’ve got to put everything together and go - you can rely on Marc to pull something out.”

He said about the serenity within Ducati: “Theꦓy are totally on target. There’s no chaos.

“All of the ‘23 Ducati riders - meaning Gresini and VR46 - are coming a🦩long, as well.

“You can tell that they are getting confident.

“The ones like Alex Marquez and Marco Bezzecch🐎i, that rode the ‘22 last year, have said that they felt better on the ‘23 than the ‘22.

“Marc Marquez is making friends with it now.

“[On Monday] Marc didn’t look good. But I believe he had mor♛e.

“Because💧 he only used three tyres out of nine. The fastest lap time was on a 20-something high-lap tyre.

“So you knew he hജad more 💫in the bag. Sure enough, he showed it [on Tuesday].

“The ‘24 and ‘23 Ducatis look great.”

Marquez’s GP23 is the bike that was ⛄used by Francesco Bagn꧑aia and Jorge Martin as they fought for the championship last year.

But factory Ducati🐷 rider Bagnaia and Pramac’s Martin have now stepped onto the GP24, which notably features a new fairing which every rider has now accepted is an advancement from last year’s bike.