Marquez: Scooter-style brake 'not an advantage'

MotoGP champion Marc Marquez said that he will revert to a normal rear brake pedal after trying a scooter-style lever during Friday practice at Sepang.

The extra lever was mounted above the usual clutch lever on the left side of the handlebar (pictured) with the aim of making Marquez faster in  right-hand corners.

As Yamaha's Maverick Vinales also explained, riders need to release their foot from the rear brake to fully lean the bike into right turns, which can cause some instability and/or understeer.

"Normally on the left corners I am very fast and on the right I’m still fast but not very, very fast," Marquez said. "It’s there where we tried to find something more but [the handlebar lever] was just a first feeling, first contact.

"We tried in the past with a thumb brake, but I don't like it. I need to feel the handlebar with my hand. I ride a lot of motocross and I am using the clutch and the front brake and that’s for me it's easier to use [a lever], like this.

"At the moment it is not ready and tomorrow we will come back [to normal]. It was a first contact to see if it is a real possibility to use in the future. If there was real potential. And at the moment there is no real potential.

"It was not an extra advantage. It is difficult and they need to continue to investigate to see if it can work better."

Brake lever aside, Marquez started the day with another big save at Turn 2 and ended it holding sixth place on the Yamaha-dominated combined timesheets.

"It was only the second lap of the day and I didn’t expect that but I already had a warning in Turn 1 and a big save," Marquez said of the Turn 2 moment. "Immediately then I say ‘we need to change the riding style for this circuit’ because we were coming from a different race track and I’d started with the same style…. But I have that potential to be able to go out on the first lap and be right on the limit of the bike."

Team-mate Jorge Lorenzo, who went on to finish the day 17th fastest, was just behind Marquez during his Turn 2 save.

"I think he has a way of controlling the bike that is completely different to other riders," Lorenzo explained. "He knows the bike, he normally has a very low bike and with his elbow, he finds a technique to save a lot of crashes. And it's spectacular to see live when you are on the track also, as seeing him on the TV."

Marquez admitted it was a surprise to see all four Yamahas in the top five and the Suzuki of Alex Rins in seventh, at a circuit with long straights.

"Normally it is one. But all four are riding very fast, in the race pace. Especially in FP1 it was strange because here normally the engine is very important but the bikes at the front were Yamaha and Suzuki," he said. "Ducati and Honda – that are the fastest bikes on the straight – were slower.

"So, yes, there are two long straights but there are a lot of corners and in the end it is not only about top power, but the delivery is very important. The Yamaha in that area, especially with rear grip, they have something more in some circuits. But for race pace we are a little bit far, but not that much."