MotoGP World Championship leader Marc Marquez had said that he will fight for victory but won’t do anything stupid after qualifying on pole position for the British MotoGP at Silverstone.

Despite sitting with a 58-point-lead in the MotoGP World Championship, Marquez put it all on the line in qualifying. A stunning 1:58.168 was enough to see him claim his sixtieth MotoGP career pole position, in just 120 races.

Marquez said that he was happy with the pole position but insisted that he wasn’t going to do anything stupid in the race.

“Happy for the pole position, because honestly speaking on Thursday I had some doubts about the racetrack as we struggle a lot but since I go out on the first lap in FP1 I say ‘okay, this year we are there’,” said the 26-year-old.

“This year, with the new resurface, we are working much better with our bike.

“During the weekend we try to work in the best way, but then in the qualifying practice it’s time to put all in.

“First run was a really good lap time, we did a really good strategy to find a good place in the track without traffic. But then in the second run, everybody was there in the end of the pits. Then I check on the screen and I see that all of them in the group were behind me, so no chance to push.

“So, then I was waiting, waiting, waiting just push on the last lap, and yeah, a good lap time but the most important is coming tomorrow.

“If we check the papers and the weekend so far, Yamaha riders are riding in a very good way. They are consistent, especially Valentino, Fabio and Maverick. Then Rins in FP4 was not bad, but Dovi is the guy who is coming, step-by-step, and I think tomorrow can be there.

“We will see, our target is to fight for the victory, but don’t be crazy. We will try to manage in the best way, try to fight, but inside the limits. Try to finish the race and first target is to finish in front of Dovi.”

Marquez’ fastest lap of the day came when he was sat behind Valentino Rossi. There was a real game of cat-and-mouse with both Rossi and Jack Miller between the three of them, with none of them wanting to pull the other two around. Marquez’ out lap was nearly four minutes long, with Rossi and Miller posting similar times, with the three all going as slow as possible.

When asked if it was a conscious choice to come out behind a Yamaha, to assess their strengths with the Yamaha going well around Silverstone, Marquez said: “It’s just how it was. We go out from the pits; we go in together and we go out together.

“Because the time here, you cannot change a lot the strategy because the lap is so long, and then you cannot stay a lot of time in the box. So, for that reason, in the first tyre you can manage a little bit the strategy.

“The team make a perfect strategy, because I went alone on the track, but of course in the second tyre I was in the middle of the traffic, but I play my strategy.”