Listen to this article The six-time world champion ended Friday’s running for the first grand prix of the 2022 season second overall behind the Suzuki of Alex Rins. Honda has radically overhauled its RC213V for the new season after several years of problems with rear traction, with Marquez admitting on Thursday that the changes are so drastic that it felt like he was riding for “another brand”. The new bike is more rear-biased to cure the traction issues, but this has meant Marquez has struggled to get to grips with the front feeling of the new bike – which has typically been his strong point. Asked if Friday went as he expected, Marquez said: “A little bit yes, a little bit no. Of course, in race pace I expected something similar, in a single lap it was better than I expected. “Maybe second position is not my pace on the race pace, but overall it was better than I expected because the target was to try to be in the top 10 to go straight to QP2 …