There were four Ducati inside the all-important top ten during this afternoon’s Practice in Catalunya, however, none were the GP23 MotoGP bikes.

For the second weekeꦇnd in a row Marc Marquez failed to secure a top ten, thus he will need to go through Q1 on Saturday.

Francesco Bagnaia had no such issues as h༒e claimed fourth, which was good enough to end the day fastest of the eight ඣDucati bikes.

“Happy overall because we i🅘mproved the feeling,” began Bagnaia. “This morning it wasn’t bad but this afternoon we improved it a bit and honestly, the medium tyre I was expecting more. 

“I was expecting more and last yea💙r it was 🌄the race tyre, but at the moment; also the 24 has a bit less grip and it is more complicated to be consistent and fast.

“Todꦗay I needed six laps to warm the rear because it wasn’t working. This is something we have to improve for tomorrow but we already know where to go with the set-up.

“The soft tyre is workiꦓng really well but we don’t know if it is good for the long ra💟ce.”

Discussing the differences between the GP24 and 23 machines, Bagnaia was clear about the st✃rengths on this year’s bike.

Bagnaia added:𒉰 “For me, braking and entry. The 24 is helping a lot in braking and e🐽ntry and turns a bit better, but it has a little less grip.

“Last year’s bike was working really well here for the grip because here the level of grip is by ♕far the worst.

“So it is difficult to put traction but it is turning less. The balance is quite similar for me, but just today ꧒Alex and Marc didn’t have the chance to do a good lap time.

“The pace of Marc is very good. Maybe 𝓰he didn’t have the c💝orrect chance to be in the top ten.”

After suffering from chatter earlier this season, Catalunya was expected to give a c🐼lear answer as to whether Ducati had overcome🍰 the problem.

And despite its lower grip than Le Mans and Jerez, there were no signs of the issue for the third consecutive round d🥃uring Friday’s practice.

“We went to Le Mans and Jerez and the level of grip is high, but here the level of grip here is quite꧑ low so maybe we could 🍒have some more, but at the moment we don’t,” commented Bagnaia.