New exhaust for 'motivated, confident' Marquez
Marc Marquez has a new exhaust among other parts, which he refused to reveal, to test during the seventh round of the MotoGP season in Barcelona.
The reigning world champion finds himself 49 points behind championship leader Valentino Rossi after he dramatically fell out of the Italian Grand Prix.
HRC has, however, been hard at work as they attempt to find a solution for the RC213V's current woes that he has claimed stem from the character of the 2015 engine.
"Here Honda bring something that can maybe help," he revealed. "They bring a different result and something new. We will try to work well. We have to see the weather because it can help us or not. Even like that on Monday we have a test and that will be important for us. [We have] One exhaust and then we have some ideas, some different things inside. We will keep for us the other things.
"This year we arrive here in a different situation. Even like that I feel motivated and confident. On Monday we did a test in Mugello, ok with the Michelin tyres, but already we try something that was already better. Here we have some ideas. I have confidence for the race and we will try to do our work like in Mugello. We need to improve but we will try to do a great weekend in front of our fans."
After Mugello, Marquez stated it is hard to ride the current Honda in a consistent manner when on the limit, such is its engine character. Riding on its limit is something he intends to do at his home race, however.
"The limit is a thing that you feel. But OK, if you are riding on the limit and somebody is in front of you, you want to go faster. So sometimes you ride over the limit, and that is when you crash. We need now to try to find this limit a little bit later. Then we will be faster. But anyway, we are on the way to improve and to find that, and I think we are getting closer and closer.
"But like I said in Le Mans, we had a problem that is difficult to understand and to avoid from one race to another race, so we need time, and also it is difficult to improve this problem during the races. But now we are closer and I hope this race, but maybe the next one. As soon as possible, I am the first one who wants to come back and fight for the victory."
Yamaha title leaders Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo both dismissed the suggestion that Marquez is out of the championship battle.
"Nothing! If I knew I wouldn't tell, but I don't know," said Lorenzo, when asked if he had any advice for Marquez, having overcome a relatively poor start to the season to win the last three races.
"Every situation is different. I hope he has a lot of problems during all the season! For us it is perfect like that!" Lorenzo joked. "But for sure they [Honda and Marquez] are gonna come. They are going to find a solution because Honda is a big factory and Marc is a splendid rider. So they will arrive for sure.
"When you riding in the best category, MotoGP, and you lack something. Don't feel comfortable with something. Everything becomes difficult. So you have to just keep everything together.
"It's very complicated for the ones that don't rider the bike. Difficult to understand. It is like a soccer player, one of the best in the world, but who doesn't score goals. Then one goal arrives and everything comes more easy than before. It is a similar thing.
"Now we are after six races and Marc is behind by 49 points. I was 50 points behind Marc in 2013 and in three or four races I was there, within three or four points. So everything can happen. Valentino with Nicky was 50 points in 2006, and in three races he recover everything. You just have to have one crash, two crashes, or one engine failure to lose all the points.
"It's obvious we have an advantage, our bike is working well, and for sure Marc cannot fail another time, or two more times. But for sure he can recover. It's still 12 races to the end, so it's a long championship still."
Rossi added: "It's true that 49 points are quite a lot, and nobody expect this problem at the start of the season for Marc. But we know it is very clear that if he fix the problem with the bike from tomorrow, he can recover, because he can win every Sunday. So all is open, he is not too far. So we have to stay concentrated and make the points."
Marquez himself stated: "Of course I believe, and this will be my mentality, to try to recover points until the end. But even like that, we must understand that 49 points are a lot, and also because the most important now is try to again take the feeling with the bike and be able to win the races. This is the first goal now. But of course 49 points are a lot, but it is not impossible."
