Marquez: Rivals will be strong at Jerez

Marc Marquez says it’s more important than ever that him and the Repsol Honda squad make a strong start this weekend at Jerez, a track he expects title rivals Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo to be strong at.

“We’re very happy to head to Jerez with a small advantage in the championship standings because I think our rivals are going to be very strong there. I’m also very happy with the work we’re carrying out with Honda and my team because we’ve improved step by step at every race: we found a good base setup in Qatar and we further bettered it slightly in several areas, such as engine braking and electronics, in Argentina and Texas.”

And, with the team making significant improvements to the bike he started the season on, he says that the nature of European races will also mean that they are at less of a disadvantage anyway.

“Anyway, there’s still work to do and margin for improvement, especially in acceleration. Besides this, the tracks are different in Europe—narrower, with a different tarmac—so we have to wait and see how we can manage the situation. Of course I love to be back in Spain after three flyaway races. Racing in front of my home crowd and my fan club is always very nice and gives me a special emotion and extra motivation.”