Marc Marquez says that he was more concerned by the Yamaha riders and not title rival Andrea Dovizioso in the early stages of the Czech GP at Brno.
The Honda pilot went on to win the race by 3.5 seconds over Dovizioso as the Yamaha threat failed to materialise, with Valentino Rossi crossing the line as the top M1 nine seconds behind Marquez.
Yamaha have looked to be the strongest threat to Marquez’s supremacy over the last few races, Maverick Vinales having taken victory at Assen as well as the runners-up result in Germany before the summer break.
Vinales, as well as Petronas SRT’s Fabio Quartararo, displayed impressive speed during the dry practice sessions, Quartararo leading FP2 while Vinales managed the second fastest time in the pre-race warm-up session.
The pair finished 12 and 16.5 seconds in arrears of Marquez at the chequered flag in eighth and tenth positions, while Dovizioso and Pramac Ducati satellite rider Jack Miller secured podium finishes.
Marquez says that he expected the fellow Japanese factory machines to range up behind in the closing laps, and tried to save tyres during the early stages to fend them off should the threat emerge.
“For me the strategy was clear, try to push from the beginning, not 100% but try to have a good rhythm because both the Yamaha riders were coming from behind and I knew they would be really good towards the end of the race,” explained Marquez.
“So I tried to push and keep a good rhythm, I saw that Dovizioso was behind me but not right behind me as it was like 0.4, 0.5 which meant he was suffering a little bit so I kept pushing.
“Of course it’s never completely under control, but before the race I was quiet and I felt relaxed which is important.
“Then when the tyres dropped a lot at the end and I slowed down a little bit but he (Dovizioso) slowed down more so that was the main difference between us in the race.”
Discussion about this post