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Marc Marquez

Marc Marquez94 posts

Marc Marquez is a professional motorbike racer, born in Cervera, Spain in 1993. He won the MotoGP World Championship in 2013 and 2014.

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5 Jun, 2016

Catalunya GP: Second place

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Marques takes second place in the Catalunya GP. In the final laps of the race he was able to overtake Valentino Rossi, who had come up from fifth place on the grid to take the lead from Lorenzo. However, Rossi overtakes Marquez on the penultimate lap to win.

It was a really difficult race. In the end I was on the limit. It was a great battle. This battle was for Luis Salom.

4 Jun, 2016

Takes Catalunya pole

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Marquez takes pole position in the Catalunya GP. He is followed on the grid by Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa.

2 Jun, 2016

Extends Honda contract

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Marquez signs a two-year contract extension with Honda Racing.

I’m very happy to announce this renewal with HRC, especially coinciding with Grand Prix of Catalunya, my home GP, where I have some really good memories. HRC and I have a very strong relationship, and I’ve always wanted to continue being a part of the Repsol Honda Team. In three and a half years together, we’ve enjoyed some unbelievable moments, with great victories and two world titles, as well as a few challenging moments that I believe are making us stronger. We’re working very hard this year to regain the title. It’s a great honour to be a part of the Honda family, and I’m glad to remain with this special group of people for another two seasons.

HRC’s Nakamoto:

We’re honoured to have reached an agreement with Marc for two more years. There’s no doubt that he is the present and future of MotoGP! We know him well and he knows us well, and we both wanted to continue together; for this reason, we felt no rush for this renewal. Marc has grown a lot during almost four years with HRC, and now he’s an even more complete rider than in 2014, when he won 10 races in a row. Although he’s still very young, we already have a long relationship together, and we know that Marc’s experience is very important for helping our engineers to develop our bike.

24 May, 2016

Booing curtailed Mugello celebrations

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Marquez says being booed on the Mugello podium made him limit his celebrations after finishing second in MotoGP’s Italian Grand Prix.

The reaction was not the best one. For that reason I didn’t celebrate a lot on the podium because I don’t like this. Today all the circuit was yellow but in the end all the circuit enjoyed the last laps and the show and that is most important.

22 May, 2016

Italian GP: Second place

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Marquez Lorenzo Italian GP

Marquez comes second in the Italian GP. After Valentino Rossi drops out with engine failure in lap eight, Marquez takes second place after Jorge Lorenzo. In the final lap Marquez overtakes Lorenzo and is ahead until the final straight, where Lorenzo uses his slipstream to overtake him in the last second of the race.

We were struggling all weekend. i did the best race possible today.

Bike ‘not so stable’

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Marquez says his fourth place grid was a result of his bike’s lack of stability.

The Ducati on the straight is really fast but here we are also losing to Yamaha and Suzuki in the small accelerations. OK, here that is not as demanding as Le Mans, they are small ones [straights]. But with one tenth here, one tenth there, in the end we are losing a lot. We cannot use all the torque because of the stability on the rear…The electronics we are working really hard. Honestly we are still not perfect. We need to improve there, the stability. It looks like it’s not such a stable bike. At the top is Ducati. It is very stable. Then Yamaha. Suzuki is more unstable but they can keep pushing. For example in Le Mans we cannot use the power for the wheelie. The wheelie stops us and we need to reduced the power for the wheelie. Here we have the wheelie but the worst problem is the stability on the exit.

21 May, 2016

Italian GP: Fourth on pole

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Marquez takes fourth place on the grid for the Italian GP at Mugello, 0.255s behind Valentino Rossi, who takes pole. Maverick Viñales comes second, and Andrea Iannone is third. Marquez’s fastest lap was hindered somewhat but a small mistake towards the end. For the first time since the Catalan GP  in 2015, Marquez will start off the front row of the grid.

19 May, 2016

Lorenzo, Marquez given bodyguards for Mugello

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MotoGP organisers have arranged a bodyguard each for Jorge Lorenzo and Marc Marquez for this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix in order to minimise the chance of an incident with Valentino Rossi’s fans. A third security specialist has been assigned to Alex Marquez, Marc’s brother. Whe Rossi is asked if he would make some kind of appeal to try to calm any fan that might want to harm Lorenzo or Marquez.

I didn’t do it, but my fan club did it, which is as if I have said it.

MotoGP spokesperson:

We have asked the German company that provides us with security personnel for access to two more employees. Lorenzo and Marquez will also both have a bodyguard who will be prepared and will have a green light to act if the situation requires it.

Red Bull interview

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Marquez is interviewed about the 2016 season for Red Bull. On challenges so far:

At the moment we’re managing quite well, we’re only five points behind Lorenzo, but it will be a difficult season. The tyres are the same for everyone, but you have to work on the chassis in order to get the tyres working well. Then you have to work with the engine to ensure the electronics function well, and this is perhaps a bit more complex for us because we have a new engine, with the crankshaft rotation reversed for the first time on the Honda. For me, [things will become more consistent] next year. Perhaps it’ll be after the summer, with Brno and other races. I think we’ll be better, or at least will always be on the same or similar tyres each race. For now it’s normal Michelin continue to work and test them out, because there wasn’t a lot of off-season testing, even for them.

On team lineup changes:

It’ll be nice for the show, and to see what riders can do when they’re on new motorcycles. It’ll also help to better understand the potential of the bikes and riders. As for Honda, it’s a great team and the best solution was continuity.

 

 

18 May, 2016

Can win Italian GP if acceleration improves

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Marquez says he can win in Italy, if the Repsol Honda team can improve the acceleration of the RC213V.

I look forward to the next two races: we need to focus and concentrate on Mugello and Montmeló, which are two very different tracks from both Jerez and Le Mans. They require more corner speed and if two years ago I would have said that they were demanding tracks for us now I think that maybe they can be better.  We have work to do but I believe that if we improve the acceleration, our bike is one of the best out there. Not easy to get it due to the actual rules that prevent us from working on the engine, but I know that Honda is working hard on every other area of the bike and I believe in them.  So we remain positive and in Mugello we will go with the podium as a target.

10 May, 2016

Says Honda acceleration worse than Suzuki

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Marquez says that his RC213V Honda has slipped behind Suzuki as the worst accelerating MotoGP bike, bearing Aprilia.

The problem is, under acceleration, we are losing a lot. If we improve the acceleration, we will have one of the best bikes. It’s hard – on the straights the time is free, and it’s difficult for your mentality when you can’t follow people on the straight. We will have this for the next two races minimum. We know where we need to improve, but on the other hand it’s difficult in the middle of the season because the engines are closed [sealed]. If we made a ranking of acceleration, it would be: Ducati, Yamaha, Suzuki, Honda.

8 May, 2016

French GP: Crashes, finishes 13th

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Marquez crashes in the Le Mans GP, at the same time as Dovizioso crashes on the same corner. He continues the race to finish 13th (taking three points).

It was a pity about the crash today. I was having a good race, but these things can happen when you’re at the limit on every lap. I could have opted for a more conservative race, but here you can end up far back if you do that, so today I had to take risks. In the race I saw that I was losing ground under acceleration, and I had to make that back with my braking. Finally I lost the front and crashed. The positive is that I managed to get three points and I’m only five off Jorge Lorenzo in the standings, which isn’t a lot. Now we have a run of tracks that we found a little tough last year, but they’re quite different to Jerez and Le Mans, so I hope to be fast and have some good races.

7 May, 2016

Says winglets hurting overtaking

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When asked about the lack of late-race overtaking this year, Marquez says winglets could be a factor, along with the new Michelin tyres.

It’s difficult to say, it’s many things. We are trying to understand the tyres, it’s difficult to manage all the [race] pace because you don’t know when they will drop [laptime]. And, another thing, the wings didn’t help for the show, for the overtakes. This also can be a good reason, now it’s starting to be kind of Formula 1. When you take the slipstream you don’t have the downforce, then you have more wheelie, so it’s more difficult to overtake.

2nd on grid

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Marquez places second on the grid at Le Mans. After starting slowly in Q2, he sets his fastest time, 1’32.416, on his penultimate lap, which secured his front row position, and his 16th consecutive front row start. He is 0.441s behind Jorge Lorenzo, who takes pole.

I was able to set a good lap today, but it wasn’t perfect. At first with the new tyre I found it hard to get the same feeling I had with used tyres and the bike moved about a lot when I tried to push more. At the end I changed my riding style a little and set two pretty good laps that helped me to fulfil my main objective, which was to get on the front row. I think the pace that I have isn’t bad, and in the last free practice I felt comfortable, although I’m still not quite as fast as Jorge [Lorenzo]. We’ll see what weather we have tomorrow and what the track temperature is for the race, and try to manage things as best we can.

24 Apr, 2016

Spanish GP: 3rd Place

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Marquez comes third in the Spanish GP at Jerez. Valentino Rossi wins the race, some three seconds ahead of Jorge Lorenzo.

Honestly, today Valentino [Rossi] was on another level, like I was in Austin, and the most important thing is that today we accepted finishing third in the race. I learned a lot from last year and and I didn’t want to make a mistake. I was very focused from the start and I tried to ride strongly and stay with Jorge [Lorenzo], but I could tell that with the higher track temperatures – 11º C higher than yesterday – it was very difficult for me to manage the front tyre well. I almost crashed several times, so in the end I made a difficult decision in front of our fans, as we preferred to secure 16 points that will be very positive at the end of the season, which is very long. We must have patience until we take a step further with the bike’s acceleration and find something else that allows us to fight for the win.

23 Apr, 2016

Third place on grid

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Marquez takes third place on the grid at Jerez, behind Jorge Lorenzo, and Valentino Rossi, who takes pole.

I’m satisfied because before the qualifying session, we knew it would be difficult to get pole position, and the goal was to achieve a place on the front row. I think we did a great job; I rode well and I felt comfortable on the bike. Thanks to the work of the whole team, we tested three different setups that ultimately allowed me to be consistent in qualifying, which isn’t usually something I’m able to do. All I can say is that today Jorge [Lorenzo] and Valentino [Rossi] were faster than me. We’ll see if we can stay with them during the race tomorrow, because it seems that they have a very good pace.

22 Apr, 2016

Spain Friday Free Practice: 5th, 2nd place

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Marquez is fifth in the first free practice session for the Spanish GP, 0.568 seconds behind leader, Jorge Lorenzo. The session is marred when Marquez’s bike cuts out during a practice start and forces him to return to the pits on the scooter. In the second session, Marquez, with winglets fitted, completes the circuit in 1’39.900 to set the first sub 1’40 lap. However, he ends the day 0.345s, in second place, behind leader Lorenzo. Marquez drops almost a full second off his time between sessions.

21 Apr, 2016

Marquez denies Yamaha move

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Speaking in Jerez, Marquez confirms that Ducati had made him an approach, but denied being in the running to replace Jorge Lorenzo as Rossi’s teammate.

I had a call from Ducati. Yamaha has done in the past, but not this time. Already Lin [Jarvis, team boss] said it wouldn’t be possible. I started talking with Honda [about a new contract] in Austin and I have always said they are my priority. They were the ones to give me the opportunity to join MotoGP, and there is no logic in changing.

Asked about the prospect of being paired up with Marquez, Rossi says:

It would be interesting to see Marquez at Yamaha, and he would be a very tough teammate to beat. It’s hard enough to share a box with Lorenzo. I can only say that I will do my best to beat my teammate, whoever it is.

Says Lorenzo move good for MotoGP

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Marquez says that Jorge Lorenzo’s move to Ducati is good for MotoGP.

I think it’s important and it’s good for the championship because one of the top riders moves to another manufacturer and is always for sure a big opportunity. Also a new challenge for him and we will see but still remain one year, so it is a long time, but anyway it will be interesting for everybody, the fans the other riders, to see how Lorenzo/Ducati can do…[Jerez]
is a track where Jorge is normally pretty strong so we will see, also it is more a flowing track so for Yamaha it looks better. We did a test in November but from then to now you can imagine how many changes on the bike, so we start from zero and we will see how the tyres are working on the track on this kind of tarmac and I look forward to starting FP1 tomorrow in a good way.