Marc Marquez says he wants to “get as close as possible” to a perfect 37-point haul at this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix, despite admitting Phillip Island suits Ducati’s rival Aprilia.
The reigning MotoGP champion is currently locked in a tight battle with Jorge Martin, with just two points separating the pair heading into the final five rounds of the season.
Marquez had previously trailed his championship rivals by over 100 points and had written himself out of the title fight, but a series of big results have propelled him towards the front.
The factory Ducati rider has claimed five double wins in the last 10 race weekends, with Martin the only other rider to achieve the feat this season, at Le Mans in May.
Although Marquez expects Aprilia to have the upper hand at the fast and flowing Phillip Island Circuit, with Raul Fernandez winning last year aboard the satellite Trackhouse bike, he is nevertheless targeting a big score this weekend.
“I’m here to get as close as possible to 37 [points],” he said on Thursday. “It’s a track I like, one of my favourites. But it’s true that last year the Aprilia were already very fast here and this year they’ll be fast too.
“So we’ll try to see if, on these left-hand corners, we can counter Aprilia’s strong point, which is fast corners, as we’ve seen all year.”
Marc Marquez, Ducati Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / Getty Images
Marquez cited the Indonesian GP as proof that Ducati can still inflict significant damage on Aprilia at circuits better suited to the RS-GP.
The 33-year-old did not concede a single point to Martin over the course of the Mandalika weekend, aided by his surprise win in the sprint race.
“We’ll try to score more points than Jorge in all five remaining races. Then we’ll see if we can do it or not. That’s been the plan since Thursday,” he declared.
“It’s not just about Jorge; I’m also putting [Marco] Bezzecchi in the title race.
“Obviously, some circuits are better than others; this one has to be better than Mandalika, but we saw what happened at Mandalika too.
“It was a circuit where it looked like the Aprilias would hit 37, but they didn’t. So anything can happen at the track.”
Phillip Island will be dropped from the MotoGP calendar after this year and replaced by a heavily revamped street circuit in Adelaide from 2027.
The current Australian GP venue is notorious for its changeable weather, with the forecast pointing to heavy rain and strong winds on both Saturday and Sunday.
Asked how the conditions could impact his preparations for the weekend, Marquez said: “It’s the same for everybody.
“But in the end, you must concentrate day by day. I will concentrate on Friday, try to do my 100%, try to be in the top 10, and then work on Saturday morning, open the window and understand what we need to do.
“But yes, like always here in Phillip Island, an unstable weekend means more difficulty for the riders.”
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