Marc Marquez ducks France MotoGP favourite tag by reminding of recent crashes

Marc Marquez has batted away his favourite tag for the MotoGP French Grand Prix by pointing to the fact he was considered the same at COTA and Jerez when he crashed.

Eight-time world champion Marc Marquez topped both practice sessions at Le Mans on Friday, ending the day with a new lap record of 1m29.855s.

The factory Ducati rider was also strong on used tyres in both sessions, solidifying his position as favourite once again to fight for victory this weekend.

However, he had urged caution following his crash while leading in Austin and a fall while in the podium places last time out at Jerez.

“This year lap times on Friday are super-fast and another lap record [has gone],” he told MotoGP’s official website.

“But tomorrow I believe that if the temperature is ok, it will be even faster in the qualifying practice.

“So, the most important thing is that the feeling is good. But, it’s only Friday. So, keep focused and keep going.

“I was also the favourite in Austin, I was also the favourite in Jerez.

“So, just I want to keep going. It’s only Friday. The feeling is good, as in all the season, I’m riding in a very good way, I know how to do the lap times.

“With the used tyre I feel good. The last time attack of the day I was with the medium rear, that I was not bad on.

“So, let’s see. The problem when everything is working is choosing the best things.”

Marquez evaluates new Ducati chassis

On Friday at Le Mans, Marquez ran an updated chassis on one of his factory Ducati’s, which was first trialled at the Jerez test.

Marquez topped FP1 on it, while he proved fast on it still in the second session.

He says his feeling on both chassis specs is similar, but Ducati believes the newer one is a better long-term bet.

“Yeah, today we reconfirmed a bit what we tried in Jerez because the target of that change is not to change my feeling with the bike,” he said.

“I mean, the numbers and the feelings must be the same - and they are the same.

“It’s super similar, I was able to ride with both bikes in more or less the same lap time.

“But, the engineers believe for the future they can improve a bit more the performance with that new item.

“Let’s see if tomorrow we will keep going or not; they will decide, because my feelings are very similar.”