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MotoGP Le Mans: Change in riding style allowed soft tyre for Marquez

MotoGP World Champion and French MotoGP winner Marc Marquez said that a change in his riding style, allowed him to use the soft front Michelin tyre during his French MotoGP victory of 2019 at Le Mans.

The Spaniard, along with the rest of the MotoGP field – bar Taka Nakagami - elected to use the soft Michelin front tyre due to the cold track temperatures. Marquez often avoids the soft front due to his riding style, but he explained a change in his riding style allowed him to use the soft tyre for the first time.

“I’m very happy because today,” started Marquez. “Last year we did a good race but here it was much warmer than today and normally when its colder temperatures we struggle.

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“It’s the first time we raced with the soft tyre in the front, but today we were able to ride in two, three different ways. I can find the lap time in a different way to last year and this is the most important and I am able to different tyres and a different riding style.

“Today was a nice fight in the beginning with both Ducati’s, Petrux and Miller, but my target was try to lead the race because I knew my pace. Today in the warm up I struggle a little bit, but when you go out, sometimes you feel, even on the warm up lap I feel really good and sometimes you know the pace will be there.”

When asked about his change in riding style, Marquez explained that the softer tyre helped him with feeling on corner entry. The added feeling in the corner entry allows him to ride ‘with more engine’.

“Now I start the feel really good on the entry to the corner and this is the most important,” he explained.

“There is still a few things there to improve. But the reason I said I can use two to three different riding styles is because we have more engine. And when you have more engine then I understand the way that Dovi and Jorge rode last year. You can try to manage in a different way.

“When I can’t ride like last year but I can ride in a different way, this gives me the confidence to be so constant and this is the main difference.

“Now we’re using the same tyres [as Honda and Yamaha] and the bike is turning better. Last year we just tried to find the right time on the brake point, and maybe this year we lost time on the brake point but we gained in another area, and this is the way.

“Always the brake point means risk and risk means it’s difficult to be constant. Now we are able to play in a different way on the brake point and find the lap time in another area.”

Marquez also spoke on his younger brother Alex, who ended his 26 Moto2 race winless streak earlier in the day.

“It was a tough moment for Alex and it’s not easy to be the brother of, or the son of, as you have extra pressure,” he said.

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“But he was always very motivated and believed in himself because he was fast. Because some days something happened, the other day he was not on the pace and a year and a half later he’s won again.

This is important as this year he’s riding in a very good way so he needs to keep going. Its just one race, so that doesn’t change a lot, but sometimes you need this extra confidence to change your mentality.”

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