Marquez credits 'calm' team for Assen win

Assen MotoGP winner Marc Marquez said he had 'everything under control' as the defending world champion secured his eighth win on the bounce this season.

Challenging weather conditions put extra pressure on the riders and teams, but Marquez was able to keep a cool head as he swept to a landmark triumph that saw him equal Giacomo Agostini's 1971 record of eight premier class wins in succession.

Marquez, who started from second place on the grid, survived a close shave when he appeared to tuck the front of his Repsol Honda under braking to regroup and catch Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso, passing the Italian rider at the chicane before going on to win by 6.7s.

He admitted he faced the race with a sense of trepidation, but he needn't have worried as the 21-year-old rose to the challenge in emphatic style once again.

"It was so difficult because of the conditions and it was quite dangerous, but my team were so clever and I was calm and was able to concentrate on my riding," said Marquez.

"Of course it was a difficult race because of tyre wear and then the track started to dry; I felt better and better in those conditions and my pace was good. I felt good to try to close the difference and I pushed to catch Dovi and overtake him.

"The team had everything under control and that helped me a lot because if it is all panic then that can affect you, but I was calm because of my team," he added.

"Of course there was a question mark if we should start with slicks or with wets, but we thought slicks were too dangerous and we started with wet tyres."

Marquez only completed one sighting lap compared to his rivals, who took advantage of the two laps offered by Race Direction, explaining that he felt it was wiser to conserve his wet tyres.

"For me, there was no need for one more lap on the tyre and it didn't have any advantage for me," he said. "Today I was more cautious because I know that the rivals in the championship were behind me.

"I'm in a very good moment, I feel very strong and everything is going in the correct way. Of course today was a question mark and I was worried, but we won the race and by quite a big distance, so that gives me more confidence and we will use this moment because you never now what will happen in the other races."

Marquez is now gunning for an astonishing ninth MotoGP win this year at the Sachsenring in Germany in two weeks' time, where he expects team-mate Dani Pedrosa to be particularly strong.

"The weather [at Sachsenring] will be a question mark like here," he said. "But it's a track where the Honda works so good and also Dani is very powerful here but we will try to do everything possible to fight for the victory."