Kuta, Central Lombok (ANTARA) - Repsol Honda team's MotoGP rider Marc Marquez said he targets the best result before the Sprint race, Saturday afternoon, and at the MotoGP Mandalika series grand prix on Sunday in Mandalika Circuit, West Nusa Tenggara.

"I will start the race from the eighth position or the third row. I think it is not a bad thing. I have quite a good starting grid. Let us see what will happen on Sunday," he remarked when met at the circuit on Saturday.

Furthermore, the eight-time world champion stated that the qualification session went quite smoothly with some improvement despite his position dropping, from P6 to P8.

"Today, we had quite a hard time during the qualification as compared to yesterday. I thought I had a good grip, but we had to adjust some parameters to be more comfortable in riding for the next race," Marquez remarked.

When asked about the hot weather around the circuit in these past few days, the rider said he did not mind it and would remain focused on his physical and mental condition for the race.

"It is very hot here. Of course, this is a challenge for all riders. I had a shower with ice water to freshen myself up, and I think this hot weather is one of the challenges that must be faced in this sport," he stated.

However, the Spanish rider drew attention to the hot weather conditions during the previous MotoGP in India. He also expected similar weather during the upcoming series in Australia, Thailand, and Malaysia.

During last year's MotoGP series in Mandalika, Marquez had to miss the race due to a serious accident he met with during the warm-up session. He suffered from vision problems due to the accident that forced him to miss several races last season.

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Translator: Arnidhya Nur Z, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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