Honda endured a torrid winter testing phase this winter, with eight-time world champion Marquez admitting ahead of this weekend’s Portuguese Grand Prix that he cannot be considered a title contender right now.
But, utilising a tow from Ducati’s Enea Bastianini, Marquez grabbed a surprise pole for this weekend’s sprint race and grand prix in Portugal.
He managed to capitalise on late mistakes for KTM’s Jack Miller and RNF Aprilia’s Miguel Oliveira in the sprint to claim the final step of the podium.
With the next-best Honda rider in the sprint LCR’s Alex Rins in 13th, and Joan Mir in 14th in qualifying, Marquez was asked if he felt he was outperforming his bike.
“I have what I have and now we are together, and we need to work together with Honda, with my team and with me,” Marquez said on Saturday after the sprint race.
“You don’t gain anything by complaining about it.
“I don’t know where the other Honda riders finished today, but I have that bike, that package and I just need to find the way – sometimes not in the best way, most polite way, like [qualifying].
“But this is competition and I’m trying to survive, and trying to survive is trying to find the best in any moment.”
Marquez revealed after the sprint that his Honda team had been giving him riding tips, which he feels helped him to improve from Friday to Saturday at the Algarve track.
“Of course, I will not say, because these are tips for other riders,” he said when asked what his team told him to do.
“But [on Friday] we were working and it’s difficult and I appreciate a lot that my team is able to give to me some tips about riding style.
“I can understand it’s not easy to give tips to a rider that has won many times. But sometimes it helps me, and sometimes you have to accept it.
“Sometimes it’s hard to listen to that, but you need to accept and this morning I was riding alone, concentrating on those tips trying to improve my riding style and I improved.”
Marquez’s pole grabbed headlines and drew renewed interest on social media, with the Spaniard saying the “hype” he created was skin to Fernando Alonso’s recent back-to-back podiums with Aston Martin in Formula 1.
“For me, both of them are nice but are different,” he said when asked if his sprint podium or his pole was sweeter.
“With the pole position, I think we created a nice hype, like Fernando Alonso in Formula 1.
“And this is good for the championship, I think. Also, the sprint race I didn’t expect to be on the podium.
“In the test, I was so far, but you never know in a race. In the race, it’s always extra pressure but I like to have that feeling that I cannot make any mistake now. So, this I love to have it.”
