Marc Marquez “would prefer another track” to Barcelona for MotoGP finale

Marc Marquez has said he would prefer a different circuit to host the final round of the 2024 MotoGP World Championship than the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Marquez finished third at Barcelona earlier this year when it hosted the Catalan Grand Prix, having started from 14th on the grid.

The eight-times World Champion has only won twice at the Catalan venue in the premier class, in 2014 — when the Catalan race was a part of the 10-race winning run that Marquez opened the season with — and in 2019, when Valentino Rossi, Maverick Vinales, Jorge Lorenzo, and Andrea Dovizioso all crashed out together at turn 10.

“No,” Marquez said simply, in reply to being asked whether the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is a good track for him.

But there is still room for optimism for the Gresini Ducati rider, who finished second in Saturday’s MotoGP Sprint and was running third in Sunday’s Malaysian Grand Prix held at Sepang; another circuit where Marquez has only won twice in MotoGP, with those, like Barcelona, coming in 2014 and 2019.

“Here [Sepang] is also not a good track for me, and we were able to be competitive,” he said.

“Of course, I would prefer another track, but in the end it is the track on the calendar, so we will try to do our 100 per cent.

“And, of course, we will have tricky conditions about the weather, because in November you never know.”

Espargaro: “For sure it will be very special”

For Aleix Espargaro, the final round being in Barcelona means a last race of his Aprilia career, and of his full-time MotoGP career, at his home circuit, where he won the Sprint earlier this year.

“I’m a little bit worried because the last time I was there it was an amazing weekend,” Espargaro said, “I couldn’t dream for a better weekend.

“Anyway, I’m positive, hopefully it’s going to be a good one, it’s not going to be that hot which is where the Aprilia suffers the most. So, for sure I will have better feelings.

“I would like to do a good race and for sure it will be very special because on my last race with Aprilia I will be able to be at home with my family and my friends very close, so this is the only small positive thing.”

On the other hand, Espargaro’s Aprilia teammate Maverick Vinales was waiting for final confirmation of the Barcelona race before he made any judgement on the choice of venue to replace the flood-damaged Valencia.

“When it is confirmed, we will go,” he said. “So, not much to say, I just want to go back home and rest a little bit, to be honest. Seven weeks, [it’s] very stressful.”

Quartararo: Barcelona “a great choice” for the final round

In comparison to Marquez’s concerns about his own performance at Barcelona, Fabio Quartararo could see an opportunity for himself and Yamaha.

Joan Mir said that, for him and Honda, Barcelona’s low-grip surface means their performance at the final round will be bad, but they can use the conditions which don’t suit the RC213V to their advantage in the post-race test, should it happen.

Quartararo was of a similar opinion, Yamaha having struggled at Barcelona significantly since the French rider won there in 2022.

“I think it’s a great choice,” Quartararo said of the Barcelona track

“I think also, to be honest, thinking about us and the test, Barcelona we know is a really tough track for us, especially in the last two years.

“The grip is super-low, we miss a lot the grip there, and this is our biggest weak point. So, to test [there] will be quite nice for us.”

Quartararo’s factory Yamaha teammate, Alex Rins, was also keen to see if the apparent progress Yamaha has seemed to make with its YZR-M1 in the second half of the season has been genuine, or whether the bike has been flattered by the circuits MotoGP has recently visited.

“Let’s see in Montmelo, in the last race: it’s a track with really low grip, it’s a track where we struggle a lot, so let’s do our best and let’s see if our bike improved a little bit,” he said.”