No title thoughts as Marquez reaches 100

Marc Marquez starts the second half of the 2018 MotoGP season at Brno this weekend holding a commanding 46-point lead over nearest rival Valentino Rossi.

The Repsol Honda star, who has won five of the opening eight races, will also be making his 100th premier-class start in the Czech Republic - having claimed 40 wins, 70 podiums, 48 poles and 4 titles from his 99 starts so far.

The Spaniard won last year's wet-dry Brno race by a massive 12-seconds over team-mate Dani Pedrosa after an early pit stop and both arrive for this year's round with the benefit of a day's private testing at the track earlier this month.

"We had a good test at Brno and we’re coming off of wins at two very different races, one an all-out battle and one more tactical, so we arrive in Brno in a confident mood," Marquez said of this wins at Assen and Sachsenring.

"It was also good to enjoy a few days of vacation to recharge the batteries and prepare for the second half of the season, which will still be very long with 10 races to go, and not easy at all. 

"Our rivals are riding fast at every circuit and in every situation, so we must understand and plan the best strategy each time. We’re working very well with the team and the HRC engineers, and we must continue that trend."

Despite his title advantage, Marquez insists his mindset will be the same as the start of the season.

"I’ll go to Brno not thinking about the advantage in the Championship, as if we were all still at the beginning, on zero points. The target for Sunday is to try and win, but if the situation won’t allow it, we’ll manage to get the best result possible.”