Reigning MotoGP World Champion Marc Marquez thinks victory in Sepang is going to be difficult and admitted Andrea Dovizioso has already shown superior pace over the rest of the field.

Marquez totalled four near misses in free practice two today - three on the hard front, one on the medium - and finished third on the timesheet but showed a stack of 2'00 laps which is similar pace to the Ducati man.

“Today we had many moments and maybe we need to look at the information because I was the only rider riding with the hard front, and maybe it was too hard. Then in the last run, when I put in the other tyre, it was better so that was the most important,” said Marquez, speaking at the track.

“We always look at the calendar and check which tracks we can attack, and this is not one of the best tracks for us so the battle is to be on the podium.

“It’s true that Dovizioso is faster than everybody, he has very good pace and he is riding in a very good way, but we need to manage to be more competitive, with the same speed, but in another way.”