MotoGP: Marquez back to title-winning technique

With the 2017 Honda RC213V package finally starting to find it’s feet with it’s new big bang engine, it wouldn’t come as a surprise to discover that Marc Marquez is planning on taking the fifth to his title opponents in the coming rounds of the championship.

But, with a solid finish under his belt in Jerez at a track where he felt like he couldn’t push for the win, the 24-year-old says that there’s a good opportunity coming up to revert to his 2016 title-winning strategy and cherry-pick the rounds where he can really push.

“I was surprised to be on the podium, because normally for my riding style Jerez is one of the more difficult tracks. I’ve spent year trying to understand it! But this year I was able to push a little more and more until the last few laps.

“I tried for the victory, but saw it was dangerous and slowed down again – I checked where Valentino and Viñales were and said to myself ‘okay, second place is fine!’ It looks like our strong points were strong in Jerez and our weak points a little less, which was a bit surprise for all the Honda teams.”

And, closing the gap to championship leader Valentino Rossi to only four points in the process, Marquez admitted that if he can get the next few races out of the way safely, anything can happen.

“We’re at a good level now, and my target now is to stay there until Catalunya, because I know that these races are not my favourite ones. After Argentina it looked like the Yamaha riders were unbeatable and that we were lost, but after Jerez it looks like the exact opposite again. Maybe it’ll all change at Le Mans, but the championship is a long one.”