“I will attack” - Marquez sends message to title contenders Martin and Bagnaia

Set to be one of the most emotional days in his MotoGP career, Sunday’s main race will see Marquez bring an end to his glorious career with Honda ahead of switching to Ducati. 

Marquez, who claimed a brilliant podium in the sprint at Valencia, struggled to hold back the emotion in parc ferme.

• Tyre pressures: Three riders under in Valencia Sprint, two penalties 
• Valencia MotoGP, Ricardo Tormo - Sprint Race Results

In the race itself, Marquez fought hard and even rubbed his front tyre against the shoulder of title contender Jorge Martin.

“It was a close moment with a title contender but it’s true that everybody is pushing until the end and is trying to do their best,” Marquez told MotoGP.com. 

“In turn four and five it was chaos between Binder and Vinales, then Jorge braked a bit earlier and at turn six I jumped in. 

“He defended well but when I saw that he was alongside I just rolled off the gas because in that case, if I opened the gas he would have crashed. 

“I just tried to respect him and even like this there was contact. Tomorrow we will try to do our best.”

Clearly willing to risk it all in his final race weekend with Honda, Marquez said he will attack with everything he has so long as the pace is similar to today.

“I will attack,”began Marquez. “If I have the rythym and if i have the chance; for example, in Qatar I didn’t attack Pecco and Martin - Pecco in the sprint race and Martin in the main race because I didn’t have the pace and then there was no meaning to attack and overtake. 

“But here, I have the pace and I want to fight for my race and do my best. Always inside the limit but this is racing.”