Marquez reveals ‘biggest mistake’ ahead of 100th MotoGP race

Marc Marquez says ‘hitting the wall’ during his difficult 2015 MotoGP campaign acted as both his biggest mistake and most important lesson in his career as he approaches a century of races in the premier class.

The Repsol Honda rider will celebrate his 100^th MotoGP race start this weekend at the Czech Republic round as he looks to follow-up his flawless flag-to-flag victory at Brno from last year.

Reflecting on his MotoGP career to date, Marquez says his toughest period was at the start of the 2015 season when he claimed just one win in the opening eight races which hampered his world title hopes.

The year remains the only season he’s failed to claim the MotoGP world championship since stepping up to the premier class in 2013, with Jorge Lorenzo clinching the title ahead of Valentino Rossi with Marquez third, and the Spanish rider pinpoints his back-to-back es from the Italian and Catalunya races as his worst moment.

“The biggest mistake was the first part of the season in 2015, maybe around Mugello and Montmelo, those two races that I ed twice in a row and I lost all the possibilities for the championship,” Marquez said. “It was a mistake as everyone said to me that I had to be careful as the points were important.

“I was coming from two titles in a row and I was going for everything, all in, every race. Victory or .

“That year I won many times but I did many mistakes so I learnt many things and of course it is important sometimes to listen to the people around you but I had a strong mentality.

“I learnt when I hit the wall. I hit the wall, I learnt many things and I started to change the strategy.”

Marquez says he will treat his 100^th MotoGP race just like any other but aims to savour the successful moments before they pass.

“Of course it is another race but 100 GPs already in MotoGP that means that the time is going on and it is impossible to recover,” he said. “You need to enjoy all the good moments and try to be better and better.

“I have arrived at 100 GPs in MotoGP which is a very good number so I happy. I am going on in the same way.”

Marquez leads the current MotoGP world championship by 46 points from Rossi.