Newly crowned MotoGP World Champion Marc Marquez has said that he isn’t in the best condition, despite putting his Repsol Honda on pole position during a tricky day of qualifying in Motegi.
The Spaniard admitted to struggling somewhat on the opening day and after heavy rain in the morning continuing into the early afternoon, conditions were tough for the entire field. Marquez however judged conditions perfectly to post a 1:45.763 which was enough to secure his 90th career pole position and first in Japan.
“Was a tricky day for everybody, but especially FP4 to understand the conditions on the track,” said the 26-year-old.
“In qualifying apart from two corners, the rest of the track was completely dry, so we were pushing like a normal quali more or less. First pole position here in Motegi, I’m happy, 90th in total, so very happy about that.
“But we need to be honest and tomorrow will be a tough race. We are not on the best position or condition, but anyway we are ready to fight for the victory so we will try everything to do it.”
With no real dry track time today, the entire field was left with a big decision regarding tyres after some less than clear information gathered on the opening day. Marquez said that a whole range of factors will play into what tyre they select, but he is also curious to see who picks what.
“Its more crucial to understand the temperature and the air temperature, and the humidity,” he said.
“In FP1 one tyre was working very good, in FP2 was another tyre. So, there is where we need to manage in a good way, try to understand well which compound is the best one for the conditions. It will be tricky for everybody, but it will be nice to see what is the tyre option of each other.”
Marquez was also asked about his younger brother Alex’s crazy Moto2 save. Alex was captured on camera highsiding himself off his bike, only to hold onto the handlebars and hold on for a Mamola-esque save. When asked about it, the elder Marquez said: “They always say the younger brother will be better than the older one.
“But it was impressive, impressive because this kind of save you can only do when you’re extra concentrating. He’s in a very important moment in the championship, so he’s full concentrate because he wants to do it.
“Happy, but he was very lucky, not for the save, but because they record in a very good way, even in slow-motion. So, he will have this video for his career.”
