Just four days after finishing the race in Indonesia unexpectedly, MotoGP is already ready for a new weekend, in which Marc Marquez hopes to forget his crashes and have the opportunity to redeem himself on a track where he has always shown speed. Last year, in fact, he reached the podium even though Honda was not at its best moment in terms of competitiveness.
“This year it’s difficult to understand whether our level will be good or not,” admitted Marquez on Thursday’s Australian Grand Prix. “It’s true that I was fast here last year, but I have no expectations. Last weekend I didn’t accept the fact that we were racing on a track where we suffer, when that happens you fall more. Now I have to take a step back and regain some confidence.”
After a weekend in India and a podium in Japan, Mandalika seemed to have the ideal situation to complete another good weekend: “In Indonesia we started very well, but I would say it was a question of motivation. I think the improvement in performance was also due to the track’s lack of grip. I crashed in the Sprint on Saturday and I understood the accident, but the crash in the long race is one of those that takes away a lot of confidence.”
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team
The forecast for the Australian weekend gives treacherous, almost dangerous weather: “It’s always windy here, but it’s dangerous if there’s a wall too close or if there’s aquaplaning. But if it’s windy, go slower.” Conditions which, combined with the characteristics of the track, can offer the Spaniard an opportunity: “Here the driver can make a bit more of a difference, but you also need a lot of grip at the rear. On this track you can push if you feel it, otherwise better not.”
Marc also rejects the hypothesis that Australia could represent a real opportunity for victory: “Winning this year will be difficult. We cannot face any race thinking of winning it, because we are far away. We’re not one, two or three seconds behind the winner, we’re seven or ten seconds into our best race. We cannot expect to win here, nor in Buriram nor in Valencia, which are the best tracks we have left. In Malaysia and Qatar we will suffer a lot, in the others a little less, but we can’t think about victory.”
Regarding the situation of his current team, which is looking for a replacement after the separation at the end of the year, Marc Marquez understands that there is not much room for manoeuvre. However, he takes it for granted that Honda will keep the group together: “I know that Honda is in a delicate situation because most of the riders have contracts. I wish them the best, because the driver who will replace me will find a humanly incredible team.”
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