Marc Márquez and Pol Espargaró contest the Italian Grand Prix this weekend, followed by a home round at Barcelona.
The historic Mugello circuit will present an important challenge for Marc Márquez, who will face two consecutive rounds in the MotoGP World Championship for the first time this season -affording him little time between races in which to regain strength. The Repsol Honda Team rider, who was unable to participate in the first two rounds in Qatar, arrives in Italy after using some downtime to recover and improve his fitness.
Márquez has previous podium form in the premier class at Mugello, having achieved a victory and two second places there. This season, amidst the absence of the usual packed grandstands, the goal of the eight-time World Champion will be to keep working to get back to his best on the RC213V.
Teammate Pol Espargaró arrives in Tuscany after having taken steps forward at the French Grand Prix. He fulfilled one of his main objectives at Le Mans: Improving in Free Practice sessions. The Repsol Honda Team rider is optimistic of a good result at Mugello, where he has been on the rostrum three times during his years in the support classes.
MARC MÁRQUEZ
“I have had a good week to continue with the recovery process. We showed our potential in the wet in France and this weekend in Mugello we have to work well from Friday morning to try to be consistent and find good pace. I understand my physical limitations and know that it will not be the easiest of weekends to be close to the front in the dry. Now we arrive at two back-to-back races, which is a first for me this year. It will be more physically demanding, but we can manage it.”
POL ESPARGARÓ
“After not visiting the track in 2020 it will be nice to return to Mugello this year, riding a MotoGP bike down the straight there is something really unique. We will have to see how our bike is behaving there as it’s a very different circuit to where we have been. There will be a lot of competition this weekend, but if we work well throughout practice, I think we can be there and fighting. Then we have another race in Barcelona straight after, it’s going to be an exciting couple of weeks.”
