MotoGP Qatar Day 0, Marc Marquez (Ducati/1) debriefing: "I'd like to be somewhere else," etc. (Full report)

A press conference was held in preparation for the Qatar MotoGP Grand Prix, with only Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) and Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) in attendance.

Marc Marquez leads the MotoGP World Championship with a 44-point advantage over Jorge Martin , with 399 points to 355. Marco Bezzecchi is in third place with 332 points.

Number #93 has two MotoGP Grand Prix victories at Lusail , both achieved from pole position: in 2014 , at the start of his run of 10 consecutive victories , and then in 2025 , the year he also won the Sprint.

His other podium finishes on this circuit are a P3 in 2013 , for his MotoGP debut, a P3 in 2016 , as well as two P2s in 2018 and 2019 , beaten each time by Andrea Dovizioso in the last corner.

As is our custom , we reproduce his words here in full without any formatting, even though they are translated from English.

🎤 Very well, good evening and welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to this pre-event press conference for the Qatar Airways Grand Prix of Qatar.
This is the 20th round, with this unique race held under the floodlights at the Lusail International Circuit.
We are joined by Ducati Lenovo Team rider Marc Márquez, who has his first match point this weekend to be crowned MotoGP World Champion for the eighth time.
Marc, winner of the Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang just four days ago, will become, if he scores eight more points than Marco Bezzecchi this weekend and 30 more points than Jorge Martín, only the second rider in history, along with Italian icon Giacomo Agostini, to win eight MotoGP titles. Will Marc add his name once again to that of the Italian champions we see here in the press room?
And since we're talking about Marco Bezzecchi, it's always a pleasure to welcome the Italian, rider for the Aprilia Racing Team.
Marco, winner of five Grands Prix in 2026, will seek to keep the fight for the title alive until Portimão, in just over two weeks.
Gentlemen, good evening and welcome to you both.

(I.e. Marc, as always, we'll start this press conference with you. You're now very close to that eighth MotoGP title which would allow you to equal the record. Is this weekend simply about not thinking too much about what might happen on Sunday and approaching it like any other Grand Prix, lap by lap, session by session, day by day, and then seeing what happens?
Marc Marquez "I mean, it's closer, but it's still a long way off. Like I said, there are only three races left, but there are still many moments to experience."
Ultimately, our mentality, as we showed in Malaysia, remains the same. Try to attack, try to give 100%. And then, understand where we stand as the weekend progresses.
That will be the most important thing.

🎤 Obviously, Marco and Jorge Martín have both said they hope to keep the World Championship alive until Portimão in two weeks. But is this a circuit or a place, Marc, where you think you have the potential to clinch the title as early as Sunday? And as you just said, is the plan the same as in Sepang: attack from the first lap tomorrow until the last lap on Sunday evening?
"It's a circuit where I felt very good last year. We'll see, we'll try to understand what we can do this year."
But whatever happens, we will have to try to start from FP1, find the rhythm, find the pace, and then from there build our weekend, our Sprint and our main race.
Yes, the most important thing will be to finish both races. That will be key.

🎤 This is obviously not a new situation for you at all. You've already competed in a great many title finals in your career. Does this one feel different? Because, in a way, it was rather unexpected: after seven rounds this season, you were 102 points behind Marco, and no one has ever come back from such a distance to win a MotoGP World Championship. Does this one feel different from all the others you've competed in?
“No, I mean, I feel exactly the same way. It’s true that every year is different. Many years, I’ve played for the championship in the final round. It was much harder. I mean, you feel the tension a lot more. Trying to control your nerves is harder.”
But for the moment, as I said, perhaps some people think it's close, but in my mind, it's still far away.
There is still a lot of work to be done.

🎤 Finally, Marc, going back to Mugello, when you said the title fight was going to be very, very difficult: at what point during the season did you really start to believe you were back in the game and had a chance? At what point after Mugello did you say to yourself: “Yes, we’re back in the game.” ?
"It was at the Sachsenring Grand Prix that I started to feel that we were back in the game. We were back in a closer fight because, you know, after Mugello, it was still a long way off."
But then my opponents gave me the opportunity to fight for the championship again.
Yes, in the second half of the championship, everything became much closer. But we gained more and more speed with each race.
Ducati helped me with new things. My feeling with the bike also improved. And then we increased our performance level.

(I.e. Are you worried about being here? Are you anxious?
"I mean, I'd like to be somewhere else, but that's precisely why I took the latest flight possible to get here, and why I'll leave on the earliest flight possible.
But we are here, ready to race and totally focused.

Provisional MotoGP World Championship standings:

MotoGP Qatar Marquez MotoGP Qatar Marquez MotoGP Qatar Marquez