Reigning MotoGP World Champion Marc Marquez believes his Repsol Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa will prove to be the biggest threat in tomorrow’s Sepang MotoGP clash after the pair broke the 2’00 barrier in qualifying today.

The Honda pair are two-tenths ahead in terms of outright speed but it is a close call in terms of race pace with Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo with all three able to put in consistent, low 2'01s. The Movistar Yamaha man has favoured the hard front all weekend with the HRC boys going with the medium, so we could see the Honda men try an early escape strategy.

“This afternoon I found the way with the setup after the crash. Yesterday we try some things, thinking about the future, and then on the qualifying, the time was fast because the conditions were hot. We did a fast lap, me and Dani, under two minutes and we didn’t expect that,” said Marquez, speaking at Sepang.

“Dani in this circuit he is always fast. OK, this year I feel a little bit more comfortable but he is riding good and his pace is fast. We will try to be there and fight with him. We have a really close level and maybe his second part of the race will be strong so we have to concentrate. We also have to check Lorenzo as he will be there.”

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