Marc Marquez didn't understand pressure before 2016 MotoGP season
Newly-crowned MotoGP champion Marc Marquez feels that he did not really understand pressure before the 2016 season
Marquez won the championship in 2013 as a rookie and successfully defended it in a dominant '14 campaign, but had a hit-and-miss '15 season punctuated by crashes that kept him out of the title fight, and was then involved in a high-profile row with Yamaha's Valentino Rossi.
The 23-year-old has headed the points for the bulk of 2016 - taking the lead for good in June - and victory in the Japanese Grand Prix last Sunday was enough to wrap things up with three races to spare.
Marquez admitted a string of four races after the summer break without a win and just one podium, as Rossi chipped away at his lead made him "a little bit nervous", before responding with victories at Aragon and Motegi.
"In 2013 I didn't feel the pressure, but in this championship I cannot explain the pressure," the Honda rider said.
"It's something that maybe I didn't understand before this year.
"This year I felt it, and even my team said, 'hey, Marc smile, you're not the same Marc, you must enjoy it'.
"Sometimes I forgot to enjoy it, because the pressure was too high.
"The pressure I felt, especially at start of the season, was really high.
"Last year we did a few mistakes, and I don't like to finish a championship like last year. The end of the championship was hard."
With five victories, Marquez has won more races than any other rider this year, and he added that the lessons learned in 2015 helped him stick with his new, more conservative, approach this year.
From 15 starts, Marquez has sixth other podiums, two fourth-place finishes, a fifth and even scored points for 13th in his worst race of the year, at Le Mans where he crashed but was able to remount.
By comparison, Rossi has four DNFs this year and his Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo recorded three.
"At Le Mans I made a mistake trying to push more than what I felt on the bike," Marquez said.
"The rest of the championship, I said, 'OK, I don't feel it, I will not push. If I feel, I will push'. It was hard.
"Last year I paid an expensive price to learn that maybe consistency is important too.
"I learned, I tried to use it this year, but of course you must take risks.
"I crashed many times in practice, and I tried to find the limit in practice and think in the race where was the limit and keep my position."
Barbera gets second works Ducati MotoGP chance with Iannone out
Tech3 didn't expect Bradley Smith to finish race on MotoGP return
How Browning saw off GB3's Super Swede in a season of respect
A move into the GB3 Championship for 2022 put all eyes on 2020 British F4 champion Luke Browning. On his return to competition in the UK, following a season in German F4, the Hitech GP driver lived up to expectations to see off the challenge of rising Swedish star Joel Granfors
Red Bull move offers Ricciardo best chance of instant F1 comeback - Brown
Daniel Ricciardo has the chance to turn his Formula 1 career around "on a dime" after taking up a Red Bull third driver role, reckons former boss Zak Brown.
IMSA teams playing "cat and mouse game" in combined LMDh tests
Cadillac driver Sebastien Bourdais feels LMDh manufacturers are playing a “cat and mouse game” in testing for the 2023 IMSA SportsCar Championship as they attempt to understand their respective strengths.
PHM Racing to take over Charouz F2 and F3 entries
PHM Racing will take over Charouz Racing System's entries and assets in FIA Formula 2 and 3 from 2023.
Was the MotoGP 2022 title won by Bagnaia or lost by Quartararo?
Reigning MotoGP world champion Fabio Quartararo had a 91-point lead over rival Francesco Bagnaia after the German Grand Prix, a seemingly impregnable gap to overcome in the remaining 10 races. But as the Frenchman struggled for pace with his Yamaha, Bagnaia stormed back into contention and swept to Ducati's first riders' title since 2007
Why there's more to Honda's 2023 MotoGP bike than the Valencia test suggests
After a run on Honda's 2023 prototype MotoGP bike, six-time champion Marc Marquez made his pessimism clear with his initial reaction. But the Japanese marque has made leadership changes behind closed doors - and a more representative bike promised for the Malaysia test in February could placate Marquez
Why the new MotoGP world champion has a stronger character than it seems
While new MotoGP champion Francesco Bagnaia might not be the loudest rider on the grid, his calm exterior belies a steely backbone. His part in turning around Ducati's fortunes at the start of the year, when displeased with a new engine concept, shows the strength of his character
Why Bagnaia's MotoGP triumph is as worthy as Stoner's Ducati breakthrough
OPINION: Despite the superiority exhibited by the Ducati in 2022, the context in which Francesco Bagnaia became MotoGP world champion means that both the rider and the Italian marque merit the same recognition that the brand and Casey Stoner received after their 2007 title
Why the 2022 MotoGP season had a bittersweet ending
OPINION: MotoGP’s fifth last round showdown of the modern era delivered a tense finale despite the predictable outcome, as Francesco Bagnaia ended 15 years of pain for Ducati. But as emotions ran high for the Italian marque, a final victory for a departing Japanese rival tinged the campaign’s conclusion with sadness
Why the 2023 MotoGP title battle has already begun
Since Ducati announced the arrival of Enea Bastianini to its factory team for 2023, the staging of the four-time race winner has strained the atmosphere within the Italian manufacturer, which has raised its guard in anticipation of what may happen between him and championship favourite Francesco Bagnaia
Why Yamaha has just six months to safeguard its MotoGP champion's future
Yamaha's decision to dispense pre-season with the 2022 engine it had intended to use due to lack of reliability, the promises of improvement to Fabio Quartararo and the advance with which the rider market moves leaves the Japanese brand with less than six months to prevent the Frenchman from starting to look for a way out
The war brewing as Ducati nears its ultimate MotoGP prize
OPINION: Francesco Bagnaia has put one hand firmly on the 2022 MotoGP world title after winning the Malaysian Grand Prix, and the permutations are weighted heavily in his favour heading to the Valencia finale. But as Ducati stands on the cusp of something it has longed for since 2007, the Sepang race also hinted towards a future problem…