Marquez is out to Phil his boots
MARC MARQUEZ is desperate to put the record straight at Philip Island tomorrow.
And in doing so the 24-year-old Spaniard wants to put space between himself and Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso at the top of the MotoGP leaderboard.
Marquez crashed out of the race in Australia last season when he had already been crowned champion. But he knows he cannot afford any mistakes this time, with Dovizioso just 11 points adrift with three races left.
The Repsol Honda rider is also wary of the threat posed by Maverick Vinales, who is 41 points behind in third.
Marquez, chasing his sixth win of the season, said: “We’re at a very important moment. This year we are fighting for the championship, so the approach to the race is much different to last year.
“The tactics are simple – push. And if we can take one more point we’ll try to the last corner, like at Motegi.”
Dovizioso, who won that race in Japan, said: “The fight there was really nice. We know a lot of riders are very fast here and Marc especially, so it will be difficult but we’re enjoying the moment.
“We have to work in the same relaxed way and improve in the weekend, like we have done in many weekends this year.
“We’ve created a really good situation in the pit box. Small things have a big effect by the end of the season and we’re fighting for the Championship.
“In the last race, more than the battle, we won on the last lap, I was happy about the speed I had during the race, and me and Marc did different things during the race.
“That was important for me and my team in terms of being competitive in the championship – more than the fact that we recovered 10 points.”
But if either of the front two slip up, Vinales is ready to pounce.
He said: “Now it’s not in our hands, our opponents would have to make a mistake. It will be difficult so we’ll just try to enjoy it.