Marc Marquez is well aware of the challenge facing him this weekend as MotoGP arrives at one of its toughest venues, Silverstone. The Spaniard is a former winner here in the premier class and is expected to be among the leading contenders again but is mindful of the pitfalls that lie ahead of him with Silverstone’s tarmac notoriously bumpy following years of Formula 1 use.
The world champion is also wary of a Yamaha fightback in Britain, especially given Maverick Vinales’ remarkable rise to victory aboard the Suzuki twelve months ago.
“It’s one of the most difficult circuits on the calendar”, he admitted. “It’s one of the longest and difficult to warm the tyres but anyway, I’ve felt good ever since I came here for MotoGP. Also, the weather is always a question mark but it looks like it will be stable. I know Maverick will be very strong but I will try to manage the work in the garage and be ready for Sunday.”
Last time out, Marquez was involved in a thrilling head-to-head scrap with Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso, the man who is now his nearest title rival, but the Repsol Honda man has now put that race behind him and is focused on strengthening his championship position.
“Of course, Austria was a great race. Dovi was fast and had a little more than me. We tried until the end but I was happy to take the 20 points there. Now we’re at Silverstone after the test at Misano which felt quite good. The main target is to try to stay constant and finish on the podium but obviously we need to start well from FP1.”
