MotoGP champion Marc Marquez says he felt more pressure in 2014

The Honda rider clinched his second consecutive championship at Motegi on Sunday - an outcome that had long looked inevitable as he won the first 10 races of the season.

In 2013 he had edged out Jorge Lorenzo by just four points in a tense late decider. But Marquez said the pressure of expectation this year made it much harder.

"Maybe this year looked easy to people, but it was more difficult because last year I didn't have pressure," he said.

"If I did some mistakes, it was OK because I was a rookie rider.

"This year I always looked smiley and happy, but it was really difficult to keep that level and that concentration because people were expecting a lot of things of you.

"When I started the season I felt so good. Jorge [Lorenzo] was struggling, Valentino [Rossi] was there but I was able to beat him, Dani [Pedrosa] was struggling a little in some races, so we were able to get the advantage.

"But you never know - you can have some injuries, or some races like Misano or Aragon. You know that during a season you will a minimum of one or two mistakes."

'SCARED' AT START OF MOTEGI RACE

Although Marquez was unbeaten until mid-August, he has only won one race since then.

He finished a muted fourth at Brno, and then crashed at both Misano and Aragon.

The 21-year-old Spaniard said that weighed heavily on him at Motegi, where finishing behind Lorenzo in second but ahead of remaining points rivals Rossi and Pedrosa guaranteed the title.

"Motegi was difficult because it was the first chance to win the title, but especially because we were coming from Misano and Aragon, where I made two mistakes, and I knew that another mistake would be not the end of the world, but not so good for confidence," said Marquez.

"At the first corner I was too scared, I braked too early and many riders passed me. But I think it's normal, I'm human too and I feel the pressure.

"It was difficult to ride the bike in the beginning. I was really stiff.

"Then I began to understand the race more, and I planned it like Valentino was leading. I just forgot Jorge and focused on Valentino."

Although Marquez said he found 2014 more mentally challenging, he admitted that having a year of experience of both MotoGP and working with Honda helped.

"I saw that with more experience everything was easier - when you arrive at a circuit and everything isn't new, you have all the references from last year and you know all the secrets," he said.

"I've made less mistakes, but we've still made mistakes and we can improve.

"Honda did a great job and gave me a chassis that is better for my riding style."