Marc Marquez “obsessed about winning, not numbers”

Marc Marquez insists his driving force remains the hunger to win rather than chase records, as the MotoGP title leader looks to finally conquer the Red Bull Ring this weekend.

The Austrian venue is one of only four tracks where the eight-time world champion has yet to taste victory in the premier class, despite coming agonisingly close on three occasions while at Honda - losing to Andrea Dovizioso in 2017 and 2019, and Jorge Lorenzo in 2018, all by less than 0.2s.

“I lose 3-4 times against the red bikes! Now I’m riding the red bike, so let’s see if we can achieve it,” Marquez said on Thursday. 

“Of course, we will try to fight for that victory. But in the end, the main target is to rejoin the championship in the best way possible, with the same inertia we had in the last races. It’s not the main priority.”

Marquez and the factory Ducati GP25 have conquered eight of the 12 grands prix so far and arrive at the Red Bull Ring on the back of a ten-race win streak, including Sprints.

Such dominant form has also handed Marquez a commanding 120-point advantage over his younger brother Alex (Gresini).

“Starting the second part of the season with a 120-point advantage, the only one who can lose the championship is you,” Marquez acknowledged.

“I will need to control myself in some races because you cannot be the fastest out there every session, every practice and every race. But the mentality is the same, try to do my maximum every weekend.”

“Championships are the most important"

The Spaniard is also fast closing on his 100th grand prix win, a milestone that could theoretically come as early as Ducati’s home round in Misano, providing he wins the next four races in a row.

But Marquez stressed it’s not about numbers, but winning.

“Of course, I would like to reach 100 victories and I believe that if we keep doing what we are doing, we will arrive,” Marquez said.

“But I never obsessed about numbers. I’m obsessed with winning. Doesn’t matter how much, when.

“Championships are the most important. And this second part of the season I cannot have the mistake to just want to win every race, because the main target is the championship.”

Marquez could mathematically seal his long-awaited ninth world title in Misano, but would need to almost double his current title lead to 222 points.

“For me, it's impossible,” he said of adding an average of 25 points over his rivals at each of the Red Bull Ring, Hungary, Barcelona and Misano rounds.

“I would like to have a match point as soon as possible, but that doesn’t mean having a rash ambition,” he added. “It doesn’t matter when; it matters to achieve it.”

Since the Red Bull Ring returned to the calendar in 2016, Ducati riders have won all but two MotoGP races at the circuit.

Marquez’s team-mate Francesco Bagnaia has a five-race Spielberg win streak dating back to 2023, but has won just one MotoGP race so far this season due to braking and corner entry issues on the GP25.