MotoGP: Two former world champs out to dethrone Quartararo
SEPANG, Feb 5 (Bernama)– Monster Energy Yamaha rider, Fabio Quartararo will surely need to up his pace in his bid to retain his MotoGP World Championship title in the 2022 season.
This is due to the fact that two former champions from Spain, Marc Marquez of Repsol Honda Team and Joan Mir of Team Suzuki Ecstar will be going all out to to snatch away the crown from the French rider.
Despite missing the entire 2020 season and the first few races of the last campaign due to a serious injury to his right arm sustained in a crash, Marquez said he is now raring to kickstart his dream of clinching his seventh MotoGP title.
“Yes, it is definitely one of the targets this year…2021 was a strange season for me as I started late due to the injury but this year I will start from first race and hope to enjoy the bike and fight for the championship,” he told Bernama and Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM) in an exclusive interview, here.
Meanwhile, Marquez, who finished seventh in the overall standings last season, described the preparation for the 2022 Winter Test, which began today at the Sepang International Circuit (SIC), as a tough one as he was just declared fit to blaze the track here.
Nevertheless, he hopes to make full use the pre-season test here as well as his training session next in order to prepare well for the first race of the season at the Losail International Circuit, Doha, Qatar from March 4-6.
The 28-year-old Marquez had been sidelined since last October due to double-vision problems following a training accident.
The nerve damage to one of his eyes was the same as the one he suffered in 2011 in a Moto2 crash at the SIC.
In the meantime, Mir, who won the title in the 2020 season, said he needs to work hard in order to emerge as the world champion once again after finishing third last season.
“For this season the target is the same which is to be the world champion again. I also believe that with good work from my team, we can fight more to be on top,” he said.
The two-day 2022 Winter Test here ends tomorrow.
— BERNAMA
