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MotoGP, Marquez: "My pole? A Mike Tyson KO"

Marc takes a gamble and it pays off: "I needn't have risked like that, considering the championship situation. But I wanted pole after Rins provoked me"

MotoGP: Marquez: "My pole? A Mike Tyson KO"

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Marc Marquez didn't just secure an extraordinary pole position today, scored thanks to his immense talent and perfect strategic vision. The Spanish Honda rider also successfully knocked his rivals' morale, the stopwatch proving just what a hard blow he inflicted on them today.

A real KO in this case, as there are no other terms to explain Marquez finishing more than 2.5 seconds ahead of his rivals, the equivalent of two geological eras in the modern MotoGP.

The Honda champion is well aware of this feat and was proud to talk to our Sky Sport colleagues about his latest success.

"Today's pole? A Mike Tyson KO! You should always go in for the kill and doing so after the holidays is worth even more. Tomorrow we landed the first shot, tomorrow we have the important one". 

Marc knows that he took a big risk today.

"Now that I think about it, I think I took too big a risk. A few of the team were mad about it, despite pole position. I know I was risking big, because the last two turns were really wet and the situation could have become really dangerous. But it was fun, one of those moments where risk, fear and fun come together, on the wire so to speak". 

The Spaniard was also caught up in an altercation with Alex Rins, which continued all the way back to the garage.

"The squabble with Rins riled me up. I went a little long at turn 7, because I wanted to get behind Miller. There was slight contact but it was a normal race situation. Things like that get you going, make you think that you have to give it your all, you  have to aim for the front row, and I did just that".

Marc took a gamble but other rivals followed his example, despite not being to reach the levels he achieved on his Honda. 

"How did I do it? In the end, I don't know why the strategy worked better for me than for others; I do my job and don't really watch what others are doing. As I went out on slicks I was thinking whether to stop or not, because there were some very wet points. I told myself that if I could push for 5 turns and then lose through 3, the overall balance would be positive". 

An incredible lap, a combination of madness and reason. 

"I was reasoning over those two laps, but at a certain point I switched off. To make a lap like that, you have to reason and understand where you can risk a little more, but you also have to turn off your brain through certain turns, where the risk could become dangerous, like turn 3 or 13. I was a little on/off with my brain there!".

Marquez nevertheless knows that a dry race could make for a very different situation to what we saw today.

"Tomorrow's race will be tough, Dovizioso will be very strong and I know it'll behard. My aim is the podium".  

Translated by Heather Watson
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