Marquez Aiming For Fifth Podium Win In Malaysian MotoGP This Weekend

SEPANG (Selangor, Malaysia), Oct 28 (Bernama) -- MotoGP World Champion, Marc Marquez of Repsol Honda Team is vying his fifth podium victory of the season at the Shell Advance Malaysian MotoGP race at the Sepang Circuit, this weekend. The 23-year-old Spaniard, who secured his third MotoGP World championship title in four years at the Japanese Grand Prix in Oct 16, noted that the victory will boost his team's hope to claim the manufacturers championship title. Repsol Honda Team currently lead the manufacturers standings with 341 points, followed by Movistar Yamaha MotoGP in second (308 points) while Ducati Team are in third place with 220 points with two rounds remaining in the Sepang Circuit and also in Valencia Circuit, next week. "The race for the riders' championship title has ended but we will try to push from the beginning of the race and I would like to finish this Sunday's race without any accident if possible and hopefully a podium finish," he told a pre-race press conference, here, Thursday. Marquez who became the youngest ever Spaniard to claim three world titles, acknowledged that he needed to adapt quickly with the condition of the Sepang Circuit which has been resurfaced with the new layout especially at the final hairpin, Turn 15. "The condition of the track is still the same but the banking at the corner has changed a little bit, so we will test tomorrow (Friday) and try to minimise the mistake we made in the pre-season testing earlier this season," he added. Sharing the same view is Italian rider Valentino Rossi of Movistar Yamaha MotoGP who is gunning to secure his third victory of the season after emerging victorious at the Jerez Circuit in April and also the Catalunya Circuit in June. "I like the Sepang Circuit very much but the biggest problem for me is that I need to overcome the greater challenge from other riders first before thinking on winning the race. "The track is quite challenging for me as it has been resurfaced and it will be a question mark on how the tyre will jell with the track especially in the last corner, nevertheless, I will try to remain focused and fight for the podium finish," said the seven-time MotoGP World Champion. Marquez currently leads the riders' championship standings with an unassailable 273 points while Rossi and his teammate, Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo are in second and third place, respectively with 216 and 192 points. --BERNAMA