Marc Marquez First Opportunity For The World Championship In Thailand!
Marc Marquez has an opportunity to complete a new entry into the record books with a win in Thailand that could see a new World Championship added to his Honda belt. The Spanish rider is eager with a strong mindset to achieve his goals at the Thai Grand Prix. This year, Marquez has been stronger than ever with a 1-2 finish as his main priority. He will attempt to do the same at Buriram.
MM93: “We had a great weekend in Aragon and it was a delight to win in front of the home crowd. I want to carry this confidence and energy to Thailand so we can put in a strong weekend. Our approach doesn’t change even with the circumstances, we will do our work to be as strong as possible come Sunday. Last year we had a very exciting race here in Thailand so hopefully we can put on another good show for the fans!” With that said, it has already been a testing day for Marquez on Friday with a major high side after what appeared to be cold tyres sending him skyrocketing into the air and absolutely destroying his RC213V machine. The accident will be a strong reminder for Jorge Lorenzo who suffered a nasty crash in 2018. In this sport of two wheel racing, staying fit is the key to being successful.
Speaking of Lorenzo, the Spanish teammate to Marquez will have to put the demons that creep inside the mind of the multi World Champion in order to stay on track of his goals with the Honda MotoGP bike. JL99: “Last year I did not have the best weekend in Thailand with a big crash ruling me out of the race. I am looking forward to completing the race there and we saw from Marc last year that the RC213V is strong at this circuit. After the difficult race in Aragon, I am hoping we can have a good weekend. During practice we showed that our pace is getting better and delivering on this potential is our objective for Thailand.” It will be very interesting to see how Lorenzo carries himself considering the human nature when we face a mental reminder of a negative past experience. The Spartan will need to dig deep in order to secure some points and more data to improve his overall riding capabilities on board a beast of a machine.
Speed machines Ducati, are looking to showcase their improvements and go toe to toe with Marquez. In analysing the team, it has not been an ideal season with DesmoDovi finding himself in the wrong place at times when the lights go out, a negative mindset at times and then recovery rides that have allowed him to find that smile again. AD04: “We needed that podium at Aragón to demonstrate that the work we are doing is right and to tackle these last five races with more confidence. Throughout the weekend in Spain, we made some small steps forward that helped us to finalize the set-up for the race and this must be our objective in every Grand Prix: improve the bike and my sensations in each session. Last year we completed a fantastic weekend at Buriram and we hope to start well again this year on Friday, even though in Thailand the weather factor always plays an important role and we will have to be clever to interpret it.”
Fellow teammate, Danilo Petrucci has not excelled since his re-signing announcement. In fact, he has struggled to stay mentally strong and is in need of better results that allow him to grow within the red outfit. If Petrucci can shift his focus and start to feel confident, he will become a thorn in the sides of fellow riders who have discounted him as a middle of the pack rider. DP09: “I believe that we have got over the most difficult races of the season and from here on we can only improve. After the disappointment of Aragón, this week we’ve been working back in Borgo Panigale to find the answers to my problems and at Buriram I think we will see the first results. I can’t wait to arrive in Thailand and I hope to recapture the feeling I had in the first part of the season because I absolutely want to change this situation.”
In turning to Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team, Valentino Rossi has announced the sacking of his current crew chief and a new one in 2020. Whereas, Maverick Vinales is on the ball feeling good and demonstrating his powerful side once again. The Yamaha team are slowly putting together the negatives of their bikes and shifting the energy towards finding the podium which is a sign of relief for their riders, engineers and fans. MV12: “In Aragon we found the way to be strong in the first laps of the race and that was an important point for me. From lap 1 to lap 15 is where I struggled a lot earlier on this season, so we need to bring this improvement with us to Buriram. We arrive in a really good shape and we’re feeling positive because last year I did a good race. The Chang circuit is very demanding because of the high temperatures but I think that it’s a track that suits us quite well, and also the tyres work very well here. We have a really good atmosphere in the team, and we are doing a great job. I hope to be more competitive in Thailand than I was at the previous round and to be closer to the top riders. As I said many times, our goal right now is to always be the first Yamaha and to try to fight for third position in the general classification.”
Rossi fans, he is mountain a title bid in 2020! The last time Rossi changed his crew chief, his competitiveness went through the roof. Are we due for Doctor’s orders? The new team addition is David Muñoz who was Nicolo Bulega’s crew chief from the current season which will be an interesting development to watch. This talented individual worked well with Francesco Bagnaia last year, managed the situation which was tense at times with title pressure and is a quiet achiever. The way of working was a clear indicator for the change because Rossi feels more at ease knowing the abilities of the Chief are going to be in the MotoGP field though it does hurt his own Sky Racing Team VR46. This is the business of racing! In the meantime, Rossi has to utilise the Thai GP as a learning experience and race with confidence.
VR46: “Now begins a series of races that will take us outside of Europe. The first of these GPs is the round held in Thailand. Last year the Buriram race weekend was really nice because I had the second place in qualifying and I was fast in the race. I fought for the podium until the end. I didn’t get it and finished fourth, but I was fast. So, this year the goal is to be fast again and try to do even better than last year.”
Travel wise, the next section of races are going to be physically and mentally demanding. Fabio Quartararo is looking at it with a unique perspective: the ability to race bikes, travel and enjoy some elbow to elbow battles. His young mentality is an added bonus. FB20: “I think it’ll be a little better for us than Aragon was because there’s a lot of long, slow corners that will suit our bike. The more-experienced riders have less of an advantage there as it’s only the second time racing there, so we’ll work hard to adapt quickly and do our best. This is my favourite time of the year, heading into the four races in Asia and Australia, because I love travelling and I’ll have a chance to rest after Thailand too.”
Finally, Zarco fans, it has been made known that Lin Jarvis has offered the Frenchman a European Yamaha test team ride. Whether it comes together will be interesting because at this stage, Zarco has limited options. We will keep you posted as to how this one plays out.
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