Marquez still searching for 'Marquez-style', but 'lap time is coming'

Eight-time world champion Marc Marquez claims he's still searching for the 'Marquez-style' aboard the revolutionised RC213V, despite finishing second during day-one of the Qatar MotoGP. 

Although he was eventually pipped to top spot by Suzuki’s Alex Rins, Marquez was as impressive as any rider throughout the day. 

Consistently inside the top five, while consistently fast on both one lap and race pace, Marquez looks like a clear favourite for Sunday’s victory even after claiming a lot of performance is still left to find. 

Marquez said: "Overall I think we are in a better position than we were expecting and I think that a good target for us tomorrow is to aim for the front two rows. 

"We still need to understand how to improve our rhythm a bit to close the gap to the top. I feel like I am riding quite ‘clean’, I am still working to understand the front of the new bike so my riding does not yet look like 'Marquez style' but the lap time is coming. 

"It’s about being patient, it’s very early in the season and this is normally a track where we struggle a bit. 

"It’s still Friday though, the weekend has just started. Today I pushed, tomorrow I will push again."

Although Marquez’ team-mate Pol Espargaro was relegated to ninth during the closing stages of FP2, the Spaniard was at the sharp end for most of both sessions and looked competitive at a track ‘I usually struggle a bit’.

"It felt good today, especially at a track like here in Qatar where usually I struggle a little bit," Claimed Espargaro. "We had a good run with our first tyre in FP2 but on the second tyre we had some problems so couldn’t push to the maximum. 

"What’s good is that our time from the first tyre is good enough for the top ten, it’s a big improvement over last year where we had to push a lot just to achieve this – it shows the work the team has done over winter. 

"Tomorrow will be a busy day of trying things, to be fast over one lap and also looking to be fast for the race."