Following a double podium in Argentina and Marc Marquez‰Ûªs success in Texas, the Repsol Honda Team prepare for the first European round of 2016 while leading the Riders, Constructors and Team standings.
The Red Bull Grand Prix of Spain will be held on Sunday at the iconic Jerez Circuit, which first hosted a motorcycle grand prix in 1987, and the Spanish duo of Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa will have the opportunity to race in front of their home fans at a track they both love and where they have recorded strong results.
Marquez scored his first Jerez victory in 2014, and he has reached the podium there on four additional occasions‰ÛÓ2009, 2012, 2013 and 2015. Last year‰Ûªs second-place finish was especially remarkable, as Marc raced with an injured hand, having undergone an operation on Saturday of the preceding week to treat a fracture to his left little finger, suffered while training.
‰ÛÏWe‰Ûªre very happy to head to Jerez with a small advantage in the championship standings because I think our rivals are going to be very strong there," Marquez speculated.
"I‰Ûªm also very happy with the work we‰Ûªre carrying out with Honda and my team because we‰Ûªve improved step by step at every race: we found a good base setup in Qatar and we further bettered it slightly in several areas, such as engine braking and electronics, in Argentina and Texas. Anyway, there‰Ûªs still work to do and margin for improvement, especially in acceleration. Besides this, the tracks are different in Europe‰ÛÓnarrower, with a different tarmac‰ÛÓso we have to wait and see how we can manage the situation.
"Of course I love to be back in Spain after three flyaway races. Racing in front of my home crowd and my fan club is always very nice and gives me a special emotion and extra motivation," he concluded
