Marquez: Vinales, Quartararo will be fastest rivals

Marc Marquez feels he has breathing space in the MotoGP world championship fight after pulling out a 58-point advantage over nearest rival Andrea Dovizioso, while he sees Yamaha duo Maverick Vinales and Fabio Quartararo as “the guys to beat at the moment”.

Thanks to his dominant victory at Sachsenring the Repsol Honda rider now holds a points lead worth over two race wins after seeing his closest title competitors, Ducati duo Dovizioso and Danilo Petrucci plus Suzuki’s Alex Rins, all falter at both Assen and Sachsenring.

While Marquez expects a fightback after the summer break, Marquez believes both Vinales and Quartararo are currently the riders who will provide his biggest challenges at the upcoming rounds after the summer break.

Marquez and Vinales shared a win and a second place each at the Assen-Sachsenring back-to-back rounds, while Quartaro completed the podium in the Netherlands before crashing out of the front group in Germany.

“Now we have two races [of points] between me and Dovizioso and of course Ducati will come back and will be very fast,” Marquez said. “But at the moment the guys to beat are both Yamahas, Vinales and Quartararo, I think they will be the fastest in the second part of the championship.

“We need to keep pushing and keep working to focus on our pace which is what I did today. I forgot the others. It didn’t matter who was behind me or matter who crashed or who did a mistake. It is about concentrating on my rhythm.”

Sachsenring was a case of double celebration for Marquez who says he took more enjoyment from seeing his younger brother Alex Marquez win the Moto2 race and duly reclaim the championship lead by eight points from Thomas Luthi.

“The summer break will be really good for my family as my brother won the race and is leading the championship too,” he said “I am happier for him than for me, anyway, everything is going in a good way.”

Marquez has equalled Valentino Rossi for the record of most race wins at the same circuit in Grand Prix history. Marquez secured his 10th win across all classes in his career at Sachsenring, with Rossi also taking 10 wins at Mugello.