Current MotoGP World Champion, Marc Márquez, alongside his brother and team-mate, Alex has reflected on the pre-season at a press conference this Thursday at the Repsol headquarters in Madrid. By his side was his brother Álex, with whom he will be sharing the Repsol Honda box at the upcoming MotoGP World Championship, which 2020 calendar is due to start in a week in Qatar.

During the event, the six-time world champion has said to be satisfied with the results obtained during the pre-season training, particularly as the initial issues with his bike now seem to have been resolved. 

Marc Márquez had the following to say about teaming up with brother Alex next season: 

 “It is true what they say that your main rival is your teammate but, in this case, he is a rookie and although he is really eager our objectives are very different. Hopefully one day we will both be fighting for a win or a title but at the moment we are on different paths”. 

When asked about the recovery from his left shoulder, Marc Márquez seemed optimistic: 

“Is true that (the recovery) is being harder than normal because one of the nerves was touched during the operation and that has lengthened the recovery times but we are on the right track now. When we realised the problem, we changed the training programme”. 

After his recent renewal with Honda until the end of 2014, Marc spoke about the reasons behind signing such a long contract: 

“Both Honda and myself wanted to enter a long contract. I was looking for a winning project and it came from Honda. I took everything into account both professionally and emotionally, for the heart, and that was also a priority. At Repsol Honda, I feel at home and I am happy. In any case, there was no better project around for the next five years, nor technically nor in any other aspect”. 

As for how things were immediately after the operation, Marc Márquez made it clear that it was not easy: 

“This winter has been harder than the previous one although the recovery time has been the same. Whereas in 2019 I started improving from day one this year I seemed to be going backwards during the first month. I had only passive mobility and so we realised that a nerve had been damaged, and when that happens it doesn’t react to exercise. It was frustrating because I was finding it increasingly difficult to move my arm”. 

“Although the situation was hard, once the problem was understood my physiotherapy programme was changed and I only did a limited number of laps. My body was the limit so they didn’t need to stop me” – explained Marc. 

As for the bikes of their rivals Marc Márquez said: “The bike that seemed more complete during the preseason was the Yamaha, but that doesn’t mean this is the way is going to be during the season. It has not only kept its pace on the bends but the Yamaha has also gained top speed, which was its weakest point”. 

He also declared that the “Ducati has also increased its top speed which would be an advantage in some circuits although I haven’t had a chance to ride behind them yet”. ich has also “increased its top speed without losing agility as well as there being more rivalry between the members of the team”. 

After that he has also examined his own bike and acknowledged some of its flaws: 

“I cannot say much about our own bike because we got things wrong and I was the first to notice, but thankfully on the last day in Qatar, we sorted it out. It wasn’t like in 2015 because this time we found what the problem was. Only time will tell but I don’t think we are as bad as it seemed on the second day in Qatar. Now there is optimism” – assured the #93. 

“I know the bike well and it has always had the same reactions. It is a bike that demands you to be 100% physically and although it is demanding she also responds well” – concluded the eldest of the Márquez brothers. 

#MM93 acknowledges that he is better physically, although the winter was harder than he had expected. On the renewal for 4 years, Marc says they wanted a long-term project and that he’s very happy with the #RepsolHondaTeam.#GPMárquezBros2020 pic.twitter.com/WIXCsGXtqc

— Box_Repsol (@box_repsol) February 27, 2020

Images of Marc Márquez: Box Repsol.