Marquez: Silverstone weather 'another opponent'

Having extended his title lead to 59 points, Marc Marquez is the clear favourite to win a fifth MotoGP crown this season.

But victory at this weekend's Silverstone round is another matter.

Marquez won from pole after a close battle with Jorge Lorenzo at Silverstone in 2014 but hasn't finished on the British Grand Prix podium since, falling in the wet 2015 race, finishing fourth in 2016 and then suffering an engine failure last year.

The Repsol Honda rider arrives for the 2018 event having lost out to Ducati riders Andrea Dovizioso (last year's Silverstone winner) and then Lorenzo at the last two rounds.

Further 'opponents' for the British Grand Prix weekend include the notoriously changeable weather and a brand-new track surface.

“Silverstone is a fast, technical track but our bike has very strong points, and we’ll try our best there as usual," said Marquez. "The track has been resurfaced, and that should be a good help in general for the performances; we’ll see if that’s the case. 

"After quite a long time without the chance to ride in the rain, Austria confirmed that we can be fast in wet conditions, and that’s very good in view of a race in the UK! At Silverstone, the weather is another opponent to take into account, but whatever the conditions, it's a circuit that I like and where I was fighting for victory last year."

Yamaha's Valentino Rossi remains Marquez's closest opponent in the world championship, despite being beaten by the Spaniard in the last five rounds.

Lorenzo and Dovizioso are 71 and 72 points adrift of Marquez, respectively.

Marquez's team-mate Dani Pedrosa is only eleventh in the world championship, heading into his final Silverstone race.

"Silverstone isn’t one of my favourite tracks, as it used to be very bumpy and the weather is always unstable," he admitted. "On the other hand, they’ve redone the asphalt, so we’ll see if the feeling is better and if we’ll be able to work well beginning on Friday morning to prepare for the race. The weather of course will remain unpredictable as always, and that’s something we must be prepared to deal with.”