Marc Marquez, according to Ducati’s Jack Miller, is “the boy who cries wolf” when it comes to rejecting his own possibilities of winning in MotoGP races.
After winning a rainy qualifying session on Saturday, six-time MotoGP world champion Marquez will begin Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix from the front row.
It was his first MotoGP pole since the 2019 Japanese GP, or 1071 days ago. It was also his first significant performance since he underwent a fourth important arm operation in the summer.
Marquez dismisses thoughts of a podium at Motegi as “not the time” to think about given that the race is anticipated to be run in dry conditions and that he will struggle to maintain speed for the full 24 laps as he continues to rebuild muscle strength in his right shoulder.
However, several racers believe he will play a role in the race for the lead, with Miller adding that Marquez had recently dismissed his own possibilities “1000 times.”
“Of course, Marc is going well and we all know he can turn it on on a Sunday,” the Australian, who qualified seventh, said when asked who the main threats for the race were.
“Whether or not the fitness is there in his shoulder, it’s quite physical around here, a lot of hard braking, a lot of using your arms to try and keep yourself afloat.
“So, it will be interesting to see what he can do.
“Of course, he says it’s not [going to be a race he wins]. But he’s said that 1000 times before. So, it’s the boy who cried wolf.
“But no, he’ll be a threat. So will Pecco [Bagnaia], Fabio [Quartararo], those guys.
“The normal lot, Enea [Bastianini] is pretty buried down there but we know he’s always got decent race pace.
“Even the KTMs; Binder was strong today, was strong yesterday and we know he can turn it on a bit more on a Sunday.
“So, I think there will be a lot of boys up there, especially with the unknown of not doing too many laps [this weekend] and not being here for three years.
“There’s a lot of unknowns going into the race tomorrow, so I like it.”
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