Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez will start on the front row for the MotoGP race at Le Mans, but even though he is second on the grid he admitted that he experienced problems with acceleration, and that a win tomorrow will probably be ‘impossible’ for the Spaniard.
The target for Marquez was the front row, so it is mission accomplished for the rider, who clinched his fifth front row start of the year so far. He is still unsure about the new softer tyre compound that Michelin have introduced this week for the races, and the Repsol man is not passing too much judgment on them yet until after the 28-lap race tomorrow.
For Marquez trying to beat pole-setter, Movistar Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo will be tough and is not expecting an easy race, and making it on to the top step of the podium will be ‘difficult’ on Sunday.
“I would like to be closer to Jorge, but today was impossible as the main target was to finish on the front row and we got it and we are happy for this. We are struggling a lot so tomorrow will be a tough race as there are many riders doing a similar pace, and we will try and do our best and have a good start,” said Marquez at the track.
“It is not an easy bike and we are working hard to try to improve our acceleration but we are losing a lot. Here it looks like Jorge is riding really good and I am not able to recover so what I lose in acceleration, it is impossible to win again.
“Anyway we are working hard and I think today we did it and tomorrow we will try and finish on the podium. It is a good target, we will try and beat that but it will be difficult. We will see tomorrow [with the tyres], as the 28 laps in a row will be the point to see how the tyre is working, it is a compromise but not the best.”
