Marc Marquez: Alex Marquez 'knows where I am struggling' in Qatar

Marc Marquez says the “most important” result from his dominant MotoGP Qatar Grand Prix sprint win is that he is fast at a track “I struggle at”.

The factory Ducati rider warned coming into the fourth round of the season that Qatar was the first venue where Alex Marquez and Pecco Bagnaia would be faster than him.

But Marc Marquez took pole with a new lap record and went on to win the sprint by over 1.5s over Alex Marquez to retake the lead in the championship by two points, while Bagnaia was a distant eighth having qualified 11th due to a crash.

Reflecting on his perfect Saturday, Marc Marquez said: “Yeah, the most important thing after the Austin mistake was to keep the same mentality.

“And I knew, I predicted, that here was one of the circuits where maybe I have to defend. But at this moment, I feel good.

“I feel in a very similar level to Alex and Pecco. Pecco, of course did a mistake during the qualifying practice, but he has been fast all weekend.

“So, let’s see if tomorrow… I hate Saturdays because you need to control your emotions because tomorrow is the most important day.”

Alex Marquez briefly took the lead from his elder brother on the second lap of 11 in Saturday’s sprint, but was immediately re-passed and couldn’t put a wheel in front of him again.

In parc ferme, Alex Marquez said Marc Marquez had too much in hand to be challenged on Sunday, especially as he’d found a way to be fast in the right-handers from Turns 12 to 14.

Marc Marquez says he adapted his riding style to be fast there, but insists that if he has to lose points again this weekend then he knows this will be down to the circuit.

“I mean, I know him and he knows me,” he said about his brief battle with Alex Marquez.

“He knows where I’m struggling a bit in this circuit and I know where he is struggling.

“So, let’s see tomorrow. It’s a long race. And in a long race distance I feel good, so let’s see if we can control all these things.

“Just worked on my riding style. I’m losing there [in Turns 12-14], but I’m losing much less than the previous years. So, let’s see tomorrow.

“I need to keep going in the same way, don’t exaggerate and try to be constant. This is the most important thing.

“It’s true that I need to improve in two corners, one in a specific way, that I think I can. Let’s see if they [the team] can help me a bit with the set-up.

“But apart from that, the rest I feel good. But tomorrow is a day where if I need to lose points I need to understand that because we are in a circuit that - I repeat, because I want to keep it in my mind - I normally struggle a lot.

“So, if here we are fast it’s a very good sign.”

He added: “Of course it’s important to always have that advantage.

“It’s true that mistake in Austin threw away 25 points, or 20 - it doesn’t matter.

“And there of course I wasted a bit all that work we did in the first races. But at the moment, the most important thing is not the advantage, is not the points.

“It’s that in a circuit where my opponents know and I know that I struggle at, I’m there. So, this makes me happy and calm.”