The 2018 World Champion spoke to Sports world on his tough pre-season as well as the explosive 2019 season that awaits him alongside Jorge Lorenzo. Here is the translation of his answers which we offer in two parts.
Second part (See the first).
Since the announcement of Jorge Lorenzo signing with Honda in 2019, Marc Márquez constantly had to answer questions from journalists about what he thought of this arrival and the possible conflicts it would cause. Once, unusually, he was asked what relationship he has with the Majorcan: “People talk about it a lot more than there is really anything to say. On Thursday we flew home together, sitting side by side. We chatted and exchanged our comments on the bike. The important thing is that we agree on the points to improve. The rivalry must remain on track, we are professionals. With Dani (Pedrosa) it happened the same. It was up to whoever was the best on the track. We shared a lot of things and it's important to get along well. Afterwards, on-track barbs exist between all the drivers because we are all rivals. It's motorcycling, it's rivalry, it's melee and it's spades. But I think we are all professional enough to keep the rivalry on track and off the track there is camaraderie. »
If Márquez wishes to remain optimistic about his future collaboration with Lorenzo, many consider that this arrival will give him additional motivation to be the best, something with which he does not really agree: “Fortunately I don't need any additional motivation, I already have that to win a new title. Of course, you have to be aware that if there are things that you do better than others, there will always be someone who can do certain things better than you, exactly like Dani did or like Crutchlow does and this is where we will have to improve compared to 2018.”
Concerning the new season to come, he was asked what he thought of the Yamahas and if he feared them for 2019: “For me the Yamahas aren't so bad and I'll tell you why. All the “rookies” who rode it for the first time in tests, namely Morbidelli and Quartararo, rode well. Morbidelli, who comes from a Honda, finished a tenth behind my time in Valencia, and two tenths in Jerez. I think the bike has potential, I consider the Yamaha riders as my main rivals for next year. Besides that, the other riders have level, and then there is Ducati who has, in my opinion, the most complete bike. »
Finally, Marc Márquez returned to improvements to be made on your machine at the end of the two pre-season tests which have just ended: “If Santa could make improvements to my bike, I would ask him to make it attack more, turn better, have better traction and be more stable. But we can not have everything ! We have to define priorities and Honda focuses on the engine and also a little on traction. The races are very long and by working little by little, you don't get half a second at once. Maybe you just have to work to gain half a second after twenty laps. »
