The last MotoGP title Marc Márquez won dates back to 2019, a season he dominated with 12 wins and 18 podiums in 19 races. Now, the Repsol Honda rider faces a very different and challenging scenario, arriving at the last three rounds of this season with just one podium.
When asked by Crash.net if he could currently set the same lap times he did in 2019 with the same material, the Spaniard replied: ‘It’s a nice question, if I would set the same lap times. I think so. I mean, it’s true that about the physical condition I’m very similar to ‘19 right now. Because I feel OK and although in 2019 I did a very good season, I was struggling with my shoulder. When I finished that season, they operated on the shoulder. So right now, for physical condition, I feel OK’.
However, Márquez admitted that mentally, in terms of confidence, he’s not at the same level as in 2019: ‘Mental side, I’m not the same. I’m more mature but, right now, less convinced on the racetrack. Why? Because we are struggling more and in that period [2019], I was winning nearly every weekend, or fighting for the podium. Then you have a lot of confidence in yourself. Now, after a difficult moment where you think you performed in a good way but the results never arrived, you don’t have the same confidence. But we are working for it’.