“All the pressure is on us. If Dovizioso finishes second in the championship, he would have done a great season anyway.” Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez is obliged to win and the statement is reminiscent of Valentino Rossi’s slapstick at Brno in 2003, when he celebrated the victory with all his friends dressed like prisoners and with a big stone, explaining that, “I was obliged to win, otherwise if I finished second I saw sad faces in my team.”

It is the same for Marquez, with an extra kilo of pressure considering that he qualified seventh at Sepang and tomorrow he will start a race where he could clinch his fourth MotoGP title in his fifth season in the premier class.

“On some weekends you know that I can attack. This time, I know that I will need to defend myself,” said the Spaniard but he must keep Dovizioso in sight to wrap up that crown in Malaysia – and the Italian is in the middle of the front row.

On pole there is an RC213V, but it’s Dani Pedrosa’s. “Every change we made on the bike was wrong. We tried to make a few changes but it was too late. When I began to have a good feeling on the bike, I crashed and then with the second bike I did not have the same feeling.  I did not do a good lap and, to be honest, at the moment we do not have the pace to win the race. Right now we have the potential for a podium finish,” is Marquez’ opinion of his chances.

Sepang is complicated by heat and tyre consumption. “It is very hot here and you have to ride cleanly,” continued the world championship leader. “I’m an aggressive rider and here you need a smoother riding style. I tried to be as clean as possible. In addition, my Honda is not so fast on   the straights. I’m losing a lot in the two straights.

“It’s true that Dani has the same bike but as we saw during the season, there are some circuits where he struggles more than us and vice-versa.  This track suits his riding style well. Here at Sepang he has always clinched excellent results and I will try to learn from him.”

Marquez hasn’t yet come up with a race strategy from seventh, as the weather will be the deciding factor: “We need to wait because it will depend a lot on the weather conditions and my feeling with the RC213V.

“Every time I leave pit lane the sensations are different. Here you have to choose the right front tyre. Ducati has the soft and other riders have the hard. I tried the medium and the feeling wasn’t bad, but I’ll need to see how it deteriorates after several fast laps.  I think that I will opt for the hard front tyre. This morning it felt good. Right now, Pedrosa and Dovizioso have the best pace, but there are several of us who will be able to battle for the podium.”

Marquez is acutely aware the qualification disaster is the result of many factors and he knows that anything can happen in the race. “The work in the team goes on – a few details on the bike and, from my side, I always try to figure out what the situation is and how to go faster, giving 100 per cent. Tomorrow I will be focused on my race. On some weekends you know that I can attack, like in Australia. This time I need to defend myself, so in the warm up we’ll see where we are.”