Marc Marquez predicts his most difficult flyaway: “I’ve never finished”
Marc Marquez believes Mandalika and Sepang will be his toughest MotoGP flyaway rounds, as he heads to Japan with a 182-point lead.
Marc Marquez predicts that Mandalika and Sepang should prove the hardest rounds of the flyaway sequence, as he closes in on the 2025 MotoGP crown.
The Ducati Lenovo rider suffered his first Sprint fall of the year at Misano, but victory in the Grand Prix meant he left the San Marino round without losing ground to brother Alex.
The last time Marc Marquez was outscored by the Gresini rider was at Jerez, back in April.
Marc has increased or maintained his advantage for the 11 rounds since and now heads to Japan with a 182-point lead and his first title chance of the season.
"I’ve never finished"
Motegi also kicks off a series of ‘flyaway’ events, being followed by Mandalika, Phillip Island and Sepang.
Asked which he expects to be the most difficult, the winner of 11 of 16 GPs and 14 Sprints, replied: “Mandalika, together with Sepang.
“Mandalika, let’s see this year if we can fight for victory, but at the moment, I’ve never finished a Grand Prix race there!”
Mandalika joined the MotoGP calendar in 2022, when Marquez suffered a concussion after a massive highside in warm up. Declared unfit to race, he was later diagnosed with a new episode of diplopia.
2023 saw Marquez crash out of both the Indonesian Sprint and Grand Prix races in his final season at Repsol Honda.
The Spaniard reached the chequered flag for the first time at Mandalika with third in last year’s Sprint for Gresini Ducati, before an engine failure forced him out of the Sunday race.
“I hope it will be the first time that I finish a Sunday race and let’s see if we can be on the podium,” Marquez said.
Having claimed a first Red Bull Ring win this season, plus victory in the inaugural Balaton Park event, Mandalika and Portimao are now the only venues on the current calendar that Marquez has not won at.
Meanwhile, Marquez has taken two victories from ten appearances at the Malaysian MotoGP, in 2014 and 2018.
“So Mandalika, together with Sepang, maybe, are the most difficult tracks - but you never know.
“Because [Misano] was a track that I like, but Bezzecchi was faster than me or at the same level, very equal.
“Every race, there will be somebody that will be super-fast, and the most important is to be with the top guys.”
Alex Marquez (Jerez, Catalunya), Marco Bezzecchi (Silverstone), Francesco Bagnaia (COTA) and Johann Zarco (Le Mans) are the only other grand prix winners so far this season.
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