Marc Marquez is traveling to Austria with a clear strategy: the championship takes priority, even if it means postponing his first victory at Spielberg
After a furious first half of the season, Marc Marquez is the clear favorite going into the first race weekend after the summer break. With a 120-point lead, the Spaniard travels to the Austrian Grand Prix, a track where he has never won in his impressive career.
However, it is not a priority for him to remedy this flaw this weekend of all weekends. “Of course we will try, of course we want to fight for the win. But in the end, the main goal is to continue the championship in the best possible way – with the same momentum as in the last few races.”
The eight-time world champion recalls that he has lost “three or four times against the red bikes” in the past. Now he is sitting on one of those bikes himself. “Let’s see if we can do it. But it’s not the top priority.”
Marquez: I’ll have to rein myself in
Marquez also remains level-headed when looking at the World Championship standings. “When you go into the second half of the season with a 120-point lead, the only person who can lose the championship is yourself,” says the 32-year-old, announcing: “I’ll have to rein myself in in some races.”
You can’t be the fastest in every session, every practice and every race. However, he does not want to change his basic attitude. “My character and mentality remain the same as in the first half of the season: to give my maximum every weekend.”
When asked about the characteristics of the Red Bull Ring, Marquez says that Spielberg is basically “a good track for creating battles.” However, the conditions have changed: “It used to be better because there were no rear wheel devices and the effect of aerodynamics was much less.”
No more duels to the finish line?
This is particularly noticeable in the pack: “Now you can’t brake or turn in at the same point when you’re behind someone.” It is therefore questionable whether there will be any more thrilling duels like in previous years.
“As we’ve seen in the past, there were great battles because these devices didn’t exist and the effect of aerodynamics was much lower. So let’s see, but I don’t think we’ll see that kind of battle.”
