Marquez: I’m currently experiencing a ‘sweet’ period with my bike

Marc Marquez dominated the French GP, opting for a harder compound rear tyre giving him tremendous late race pace. The Spanish rider was two seconds down on race leader Jorge Lorenzo after just three laps, but Marquez’ used his race craft wonderfully, allowing the tyres to come to him before slicing his way through the opposition.

“I’m particularly happy with this win here in Le Mans, as it’s one of the most difficult tracks for us! Today I was the only one on a hard rear tyre, and that made my approach to the race a bit different because I knew it would take a little more time to reach the right temperature. But during the warm-up, I had the opportunity to verify that once the tyre was ready, it was very constant, and I was able to keep a very good rhythm,” began the championship leader, now with a 36 point lead over Maverick Vinales.

“To be honest, things were a bit challenging at the beginning of the race: Zarco touched me in the second corner and I went a bit wide, then Iannone crashed and nearly hit me, so I lost some more positions. I decided to cool down for a while. When I saw that Dovi and Johann were out, my approach to the race again changed a bit.

“At a certain point, I had one big moment in turn three, where I had already crashed in FP3, which is why I was being extremely careful there; I think that helped me to avoid a crash in that moment. I’m currently experiencing a very ‘sweet’ period with my bike, and when you’ve got that kind of feeling, you also work better; then you ride better, and the bike works better.”

Marquez’ win at the circuit is his first since 2014, when he finished ahead of Valentino Rossi. This was also the last time that Honda won at the circuit.

Things don’t exactly become easier when you get into this zone, but they’re more ‘natural.’ Of course it’s a very long season, and not all the races will be the same, so we’ll just try and keep the momentum.”

Marquez now heads to Mugello, where his last win was in 2014. Having been pipped to the line in 2016 by Jorge Lorenzo and finishing a lowly 6th last season, Marquez will be out to win in Valentino Rossi’s home.