Repsol Honda's MotoGP rookie Marc Marquez believes securing a podium on his debut at Qatar tomorrow will be difficult after a tough qualifying session which saw him come together with team-mate Dani Pedrosa.
The Spanish Moto2 World Champion rubbed the back of Pedrosa's RC213V when he was closing on the number one rider and Pedrosa rolled off the throttle a fraction, causing Marquez to sit up, bang bodywork and almost run off track.
"This new qualifying for me is a little difficult as I don't have the feeling with the bike like I had in Moto2. It's hard to go out at the beginning and be fast but I am still happy because we finish in the first two rows. Still we need to work a little in the warm up and then try to choose the best tyre," said Marquez, speaking to bikesportnews.com at Losail.
"I did a few mistakes in the first lap but still I finished sixth like that so I am happy. The race setup I am quite happy, for qualifying maybe I struggle a little in some points.
"A podium will be difficult and after qualifying it is even more difficult. I will try to do my best but there are some riders who are quite strong."
On the subject of his rubbing incident with Pedrosa, Marquez believes his team leader didn't see him and rolled off the throttle a little, which caused the minor collision.
"I was on my line and I think he closed a little bit the gas but I think he didn't expect I was close to him. For me it's not a problem. Everyone thinks it was so close but from the bike it's not so bad."