Marc Marquez praises Ducati for ‘controlling my instincts’

MotoGP championship leader Marc Marquez has thanks Ducati for helping him to “control my instincts” following his recent run of sprint/grand prix victories.

The factory Ducati rider has won the last three sprints and grands prix, with two of those coming at weak tracks in Mugello and Assen for him, to open up a 68-point lead in the championship.

This purple patch comes after a scrappy British Grand Prix in which he crashed prior to a red flag restart, as well as falls while in victory contention at COTA and Jerez.

Marc Marquez says in his weak tracks he has learned to “attack in the correct moments”, which was something highlighted at the Dutch Grand Prix last weekend after it started with him suffering two heavy crashes in practice.

“Of course, the most important victories of the year were Qatar, Mugello and here [Assen], because they were race tracks where I didn’t expect that victory and I was fast,” he said.

“So, for that reason the most special one was Qatar because it was the first circuit where I had some doubts and there I was super-fast, and I had that extra concentration to attack in the correct moments.

“Especially this [Dutch GP] weekend that didn’t start in the best way, I’m happy for myself and happy also for Ducati because they helped me to control myself and to control my instincts.”

On what he has changed to improve his Sunday form, Marquez added: “I try to manage to don’t repeat the mistakes.

“I don’t want to say a lot of things because maybe in the next race I will do.

“But on that Sunday, those were my weak points, and always I try to focus to improve my weak point.

“Let’s see if we can keep that consistency. It looks like right now that we changed a bit the bike balance, the team is helping me a bit and I feel much more comfortable on those first laps as I do on those last laps.

“Today [Sunday at Assen] was not the perfect start like yesterday, but I had the rhythm to overtake Alex pMarquez], to overtake Pecco. [Bagnaia] and to lead the race.”

Sachsenring a place to attack, says Marc Marquez

The next round will be the German Grand Prix at Marquez’s beloved Sachsenring, where he won every year in MotoGP between 2013 and 2021.

While the previous two grands prix this season have been places where Marquez has felt like he has had to ride defensively, he says he will “attack” in Germany.

However, with his lead in the championship so healthy now, he knows that he must “start to manage a bit” this advantage.

“So, Sachsenring… here [at Assen] I said on Thursday I will try to defend.

“Sachsenring I will try to attack, I will try to take 37 points.

“But I need to understand that if somebody is faster, they are faster.

“Now, I start to have some advantage in the championship where we’re not even in the middle of the championship, still a lot of races to go, but you need to start to manage a bit.”