‘I love Silverstone’ says Laureus Ambassador Marc Marquez as he revs up for his second world title
The British Grand Prix at Silverstone this weekend is an important milestone on Marc Marquez’ journey to a second World MotoGP title.
After winning the first ten Grand Prix of the year, there are very few people in sport who think he will not win another world title, but Marquez is still guarded.
“Until the last race, the fight is open,” he said. However he added: “I love Silverstone. I have very good memories and I hope we can get a good result this year.”
Marquez, last year’s winner of the Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year Award, leads the standings with 263 points to fellow Spaniard Dani Pedrosa’s 186 and Italy’s Valentino Rossi with 173.
He says there will be not be a special approach to the race. “As usual we will be working with the team over the weekend to set up the bike for Sunday. Tactics are normally decided on Saturday night or Sunday morning.”
Marquez admits that his breathtaking start to the year with ten straight wins surprised even him. “I did not imagine I could win ten straight races, considering that I am competing with very strong rivals like Rossi, Lorenzo and Pedrosa, who have been winning many times.”
Despite his big lead in the championship, he says he will not be adopting a conservative approach for the rest of the season. “We all want to be on the podium every race.”
Marquez won the Laureus Breakthrough Award last year when he became the youngest World MotoGP champion at 20. He said: “It is a great honour and I will never forget the Awards night in Malaysia with great sportsmen like Edwin Moses, Johan Cruyff, Michael Johnson, Sebastian Vettel, Giacomo Agostini and Emerson Fittipaldi.”
A second straight world title will make him one of the hot favourites for nomination for the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award.
When he was in Malaysia, he was also named as an Ambassador for the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation. He says: “In our position we have the possibility to help people. We cannot miss this chance and we should try to do the most we can to give a good example and inspire people.”
At Silverstone, Valentino Rossi, a two-time winner of Laureus Awards, will be taking part in his 246th Grand Prix in the 500cc or MotoGP class, beating the 245 starts of Alex Barros.
