If history is any guide, eight-time world champion Marc Marquez will either romp to his 11th win of the season at the Australian MotoGP or he won’t finish at all.
When it comes to the iconic Phillip Island circuit there’s no middle ground for the Repsol Honda superstar.
In seven starts at the Australian MotoGP, Marquez has won twice and crashed out or suffered a technical failure five times.
The red-hot Spaniard clinched this year’s championship with a win in Thailand and is gunning for his fifth victory in a row, but he has pledged patience as he renews his love-hate relationship with the super-fast circuit.
“The main target is to try to fight for the victory but it’s a circuit that you need to feel,” Marquez said.
“You need to feel that you can win because it has very high speed corners and this means a lot of risk.
“It’s a circuit that if you don’t feel it, it’s better to stay calm and to finish on the podium or to try to finish the race.
“We will need to fight especially against the Yamahas and Suzukis – they have bikes that work very well around here.”
Nine-time world champion Valentino Rossi is well off the pace in seventh, 205 championship points behind Marquez, but is hoping for a change in luck in his 400th race.
“It’s good to reach the 400 here in Phillip Island because it’s an iconic place for MotoGP,” Rossi said.
At the other end of the spectrum, newly-crowned rookie of the year Fabio Quartararo is hunting his maiden MotoGP win after finishing second behind Marquez three times in the past four races.
The French sensation is keen to throw his Petronas Yamaha SRT around a track where the Japanese manufacturer traditionally does well.
“I think the Yamaha suits this track really well, but we will see what the conditions are,” Quartararo said.
“But we don’t need to focus on the victory, we need to focus on doing the same work that we’ve done since the beginning of the year.
“It has fast corners and the Yamaha looks good so we will make our best effort and our best will be enough.”
Local hope Jack Miller is confident his Pramac Racing Ducati has the pace to allow him to fight for a podium finish at a track where he has finished seventh in his past two starts.
