Marc Marquez, Team Catalunya Caixa Repsol-Suter: pole position, 2m, 5.312s
“My confidence for tomorrow is good, because in the dry (morning) condition we find a good set-up and it’s quite easy to keep the time, like 1m, 44s, 1m, 43s. But more or less that practice, that qualifying was so difficult because the track was getting dry and I was sliding quite a lot. But in the end this pole position is important. But it’s important for me tomorrow to start on the first row, as it is the most important thing in this category, and then we will see. Tomorrow should be dry and just I want to concentrate on my way and on my work and for sure I think we can do a nice race.”

Marc Marquez had an impressive debut in the first day of Free Practice in Qatar. In what is essentially his ‘learning season’ Marquez managed to finish second in the first free practice and ended the first day of the Qatar Grand Prix in sixth.

Marc Márquez
2’02.348 sec, 35 laps, 188 km.
“Now I know what an official Moto2 free practice is like. I’m a little surprised, as I thought I would not be so close to the fastest time here, in Qatar. I’m satisfied with the team’s work, as their experience is very useful for me. One of the most complicated things in this class is to know how to manage the tyres during the free sessions, but we will learn about it. The changes of direction are also slower with a Moto2, but overall I’m happy with the result. During the first session the track was a bit slippery”.

Marc Marquez isn’t sticking around to defend his 125cc World title next year, instead he has signed a contract that will take him to Moto2 with the Monlau Competicion Moto2 team, on a Suter chassis.

Marquez will continue his relationship with Repsol who will sponsor the team, along with CatalunyaCaixa.

Marc Marquez was in dominant form once again as he took pole position for the 125cc Malaysian GP in Sepang today. This pole position is his 10th of the season.

Marc Marquez: 2’13.398 sec, 28 laps, 155 KM
“I’m not completely happy with today’s practice because I would have liked to have practiced the pace a bit more and do more constant laps. Between the traffic and testing quite a few things it wasn’t possible but the conditions are the same for everyone. We mainly focused on preparing the race, ruling out the things we didn’t need. I think we’ve done a good job, we’ve got the pole and we have the set-up for tomorrow quite clear, both the suspension and tyre choice.

In the warm-up, we will finish testing some things but we are ready to fight for victory. It will be difficult to break away at this circuit because there are two very long straights which, with the slipstream, you can benefit from and very long turns on which you can get a reference from a rider, which also helps a lot. We will try to reach the last lap with options for victory but let’s not forget that it will be a physically demanding race”.

Marc Marquez took his 9th pole position of the season at Motegi for the 125cc GP.

His 9th pole position already makes Marquez the third Spanish rider with the most pole positions in the 125cc category, behind Angel Nieto (21) and Jorge Martínez ‘Aspar’ (19).

Marc Marquez said:
“We are confident about tomorrow’s race and perhaps the only question is what the weather will be like because some say it will rain and others think that it will be dry. In any case, our main aim will be to finish the Grand Prix and score points towards the championship. Now, we have to start taking a few risks to try to win. We’ve got a good setup and total confidence in the bike if it is a dry race.

I would like to send my best to Dani [Pedrosa], I hope that he recovers and is back on the top step of the podium soon because an injury at this stage of the year, with three races in a row and at your peak is very tough. I hope that I will be able to dedicate a victory to him tomorrow because he’s always been my idol. When I saw his fall yesterday, I thought that it wasn’t very normal for him to be overtaken in the first few minutes of the practice session; I quickly realised that he must have some kind of problem”.

Last weekend at Assen, Marc Marquez claimed his 3rd successive 125cc victory which boosted him up the 125cc championship standings to be a real contender for the title this year, alongside Nicol Terol and Pol Espargaro.

Marquez faces extra pressure weekend as his takes part in his home GP at Catalunya, where expectations from the Spanish fans are high for Marquez.

Marc Marquez sat down for a brief interview to discuss this weelend’s GP action at Catalunya:

What is your relationship with this circuit? When did you first step foot on it?
“I don’t really remember it but I know that the first time I was at the Circuit de Catalunya was to compete in the Open Racc 50. It was the first time I’d competed at major circuits and this was one of the first that I raced at, where I also won. The initial feelings I had on this track were very special because it was a very wide and very long circuit and it seemed liked it would never end. Since then, as you go up a class, everything gets narrower”.

Does being at a World Championship venue when you are, in your case, ten years old and arriving at this track for the first time have an impact?
“Yes it does have an impact because whether you like it or not, being at such a big venue, where you know that World Championship races are held makes it very special. But it’s also true that at that age, you’re not really aware of where you are. You go to a track, you race, you go to have a good time and you treat it just like any other circuit”.

What is your best memory of the Circuit de Catalunya?
“My best memory is perhaps my two World Championship visits. Last year, I had a very good race, in which I clocked up the fastest race lap and I lost a podium finish in the last minute. And two years ago, I finished the race for the first time among the top ten in the Grand Prix here. They’re nice memories but there are also some bad”.

What are they?
“Here I lost the Catalunya Championship in the last race. I clashed with another rider and fell. They’re things that happen in races and it just so happens that it was here”.

This circuit is always in video games. Who has the record in your house, your brother Alex or you?
“It changes every weekend because we are very competitive and we are always beating one another. It depends on the day and there are always good and bad but he usually beats me. Although there’s a big difference between the video game and the real circuit; if you fall in the game there’s no danger but here it’s very different. At home on the sofa, you can risk it a bit more because nothing is going to happen”.

Does racing in a Grand Prix in which you know that your family, friends, classmates and fans will be nearby supporting you put added pressure on you or does it give you an extra boost when you go out on the track?
“It’s true that there is that pressure because you want to do it well in front of your friends, family and all those people who trust in you and have always supported you but you always try to change it into motivation to improve and get that extra push. I try to treat it like any other Grand Prix so that too much motivation doesn’t play a dirty trick”.

Marc Marquez’s 3rd victory in Assen at the Dutch 125cc race has opened up the championship standings and has turned the series into a 3 rider battle between Terol, Espargaro, and now Marquez.

In the race, Nicolas Terol was the only rider who seemed to be able to match Marquez’s speed and shadowed him for much of the second half of the race. Terol looked ready to make a move to challenge for the lead on the last few laps, but got caught up in an incident with a back-marker before he could fully test Marquez, which gave the leader a few extra seconds over Terol to comfortably take victory.

125cc Race results:Assen

1. Marc Marquez Derbi 37m48.923s
2. Nicolas Terol Aprilia + 2.332s
3. Pol Espargaro Derbi + 8.134s
4. Bradley Smith Aprilia + 9.636s
5. Sandro Cortese Derbi + 36.961s
6. Randy Krummenacher Aprilia + 39.091s
7. Danny Webb Aprilia + 39.397s
8. Luis Salom Aprilia + 45.010s
9. Simone Grotzki Giorgi Aprilia + 45.672s
10. Jonas Folger Aprilia + 48.031s
11. Alberto Moncayo Aprilia + 48.457s
12. Johann Zarco Aprilia + 48.833s
13. Jasper Iwema Aprilia + 54.208s
14. Tomoyoshi Koyama Aprilia + 59.055s
15. Jakub Kornfeil Aprilia + 1m01.504s
16. Adrian Martin Aprilia + 1m16.069s
17. Sturla Fagerhaug Aprilia + 1m16.175s
18. Marcel Schrotter Honda + 1m18.029s
19. Louis Rossi Aprilia + 1m21.738s
20. Toni Finsterbusch KTM + 1m36.263s
21. Michael van der Mark Lambretta + 1m36.445s
22. Muhammad Zulfahmi Aprilia + 1m40.681s
23. Pepijn Bijsterbosch Honda + 1 lap
24. Ernst Dubbink Honda + 1 lap

Retirements:

Alexis Masbou Aprilia 20 laps
Jerry van de Bunt Honda 16 laps
Roy Pouw Aprilia 14 laps
Marco Ravaioli Lambretta 11 laps
Luca Marconi Aprilia 8 laps
Esteve Rabat Aprilia 4 laps
Efren Vazquez Derbi 3 laps
Lorenzo Savadori Aprilia 0 laps