Marc Marquez pinpoints moment he was “back in the game” for MotoGP title

Marc Marquez has identified July's Sachsenring round as the moment he first believed he was back in the game for the MotoGP crown.

The reigning champion was still winless on a Sunday and 102 points from the top after a low-key return from shoulder surgery at Mugello.

However, he took a double victory next time at Balaton Park and, by the end of the German weekend, had won five of the previous eight races.

During the same period, former title leader Marco Bezzecchi failed to finish a Grand Prix race, while Aprilia team-mate Jorge Martin made just one podium appearance.

Speaking ahead of this weekend's title chance in Qatar, Marc Marquez said:

“The Sachsenring GP is when I started to feel that we were in the game again, that we were in the title fight.

“Because after Mugello I was super far, but then my opponents gave me the chance to fight again for the championship.

“Then, in this second part of the championship, everything was tighter, but we had better and better speed every race.

“Ducati helped me with new things, my feeling with the bike was better, and then we increased our speed.”

Marquez needs to outscore injured title rival Martin by 30 points out of a possible 37 this weekend, while gaining eight on Bezzecchi (seven if he wins the Grand Prix), to be crowned champion with Portimao and Valencia still to come.

“I feel exactly the same,” Marquez insisted ahead of his title chance.

“It's true that every year is different, and many years I fought for the championship in the last round.

“That was much more difficult because you can feel much more of the tension, and trying to control the nerves is more difficult.

“But at the moment, maybe some people think that it's closer, but in my mind it’s still far, still a lot of work to do.”