Marc Marquez doubts victory fight in every MotoGP race

Although this weekend will be MotoGP’s fourth visit to the Portuguese circuit since the start of 2020, injuries mean Marquez has only made one previous appearance, finishing seventh during last April’s comeback from a fractured right arm.

Diplopia then forced Marquez to miss the November round, with a further episode of double vision triggered by last month’s highside in Mandalika.

Fortunately, COTA passed without any further eye issues and while Marquez’s race hopes were ruined by a technical problem at the start, he had the pace to fight for victory.

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“In America we showed our speed and what we are capable of, even if everything did not go perfectly,” Marquez said. “I want to again be fighting at the front and getting good points after not the best start to the year.

“We have to keep working on ourselves and the bike to be able to achieve our maximum, but I know myself and Honda are working hard.”

Marquez: 'Weak points we need to improve'

Despite his COTA comeback, the eight-time world champion is far from comfortable on the all-new RCV and suspects he will face a tougher challenge at smaller, twistier tracks.

“Now we need to understand our level at European tracks. I don’t think it's the level to fight for the victory in every race,” he admitted in Texas.

“Because COTA is a circuit that I know very well, I was able to see exactly the weak points of the bike. Already I said to Honda 'you need to work there and there if you want to be competitive in the next races'.

“It's true that Pol is riding well in some race tracks, Nakagami is riding well in some race tracks, but there are some weak points that we need to improve if we want to be consistent in all the tracks.

“We have a bike that is really good on the brakes but then to turn the bike and to understand the front tyre is difficult. It's a completely opposite bike compared to last year. We are riding with a completely different set-up. But we need to understand the way.

“[In COTA] we did some improvements, I tried some things on the bike that I said 'this is the way' and then when the other Honda riders tried it everybody liked it. So this is important that what I feel the others also like. We need to keep going.”

After taking part in just two of four races, Marquez is among several big names - alongside the likes of title runner-up Francesco Bagnaia and former champion Joan Mir - yet to feature on the podium this season.

“What I’ve learned is that you cannot predict this championship,” said Marquez, currently 13th in the standings and 40 points from Enea Bastianini.

“You cannot say ‘this GP I can win, this one I will finish top five, this one I will finish top ten’. You don’t know.

“During the weekend you need to accept where you are and if you are tenth you finish tenth. But of course, I will push and take the risk and the target is to try to be on the podium every race.”

The only Honda podium so far this season came at the hands of team-mate Pol Espargaro, who was third in the Qatar season-opener. Since then, Espargaro’s dropped from third to eleventh in the world championship, not helped by an accident in Argentina and illness in Texas.

“With the come back to Europe I’m hoping to reset a bit and find what we had at the start of the year,” said Espargaro. “After Qatar it seems things have been against us a little bit, but there are still plenty of races left and a lot of work to be done.

“Portimao is a circuit I have always enjoyed so with the new Honda I have some good hopes for the weekend.”

Espargaro’s best Portimao result is a fourth place for KTM in 2020, finishing sixth for Repsol Honda in November’s visit.