MotoGP™ frontrunners joined by wild card De Puniet to preview end of season Valencia fiesta

At Thursday’s preliminary press conference at the Gran Premio Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana MotoGP™ stars Marc Marquez, Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo, Pol Espargaro and Stefan Bradl were joined by Suzuki wild card Randy de Puniet to preview the end of season finale in Spain.

World Champion Marquez is in a relaxed frame of mind ahead of the round 18 contest having secured a 12th win of 2014 last time out at Sepang and after successfully tying up his title defence at Motegi just under a month ago. He is hoping his younger brother Alex can become a Moto3™ World Champion this weekend.

The Repsol Honda rider commented, “We just have to enjoy the last race of the season, though we want to finish the year with a victory in front of the home fans. We know both Yamaha riders will push a lot as they are going for second in the championship and also Dani because his level here is very high.”

On helping his brother to prepare for the weekend, Marquez added, “I did some dirt track training with my brother trying to get ready for the race and we did make some contact at one point but he was ok. I want to give good luck to him, he has it all in his own hands and he just needs to focus and keep pushing.”

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP rider Rossi’s goal this weekend is to secure the runner-up spot in the 2014 World Championship standings and he stated, “It has been a good season as I have improved my speed and my results. I have enjoyed it a lot making good races and good battles. I am fighting with Jorge for the second place and it is important because I am fighting with my teammate.”

On whether he is riding better than he has ever done in his career, Rossi also stated, “It is different but it is difficult to say if I am better. I focus a lot on the details. I am older but I feel 100%. My rivals level is higher than ever, the bikes have changed a lot. But I love improving to go higher and stay part of the game.”

Rossi’s teammate Lorenzo is his rival for second spot in the championship and the Spaniard noted, “I’m very happy with my second half of the season. We are in a good shape, the bike is working well and we don’t have anything to lose this weekend. We will try to win the race but it will not be simple. It will be difficult to catch Vale but not impossible.”

For Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech3) he aims to defend his sixth place in the standings as he looks for another strong race result. He broke a metatarsal bone in Sepang but is ready for action despite the injury not yet being 100% healed.

On his rookie year in MotoGP he said, “It looked easier than it is! When you are on the bike and you try it, you know that being in good positions is not the hardest, but to be in the top five or six you have to work so hard. You have to work well with the electronics, the anti wheelie and with the team in the box. This year has been about learning, making mistakes and I’m ready for the last race, to test next week and to race again next year.”

German rider Bradl, meanwhile, says goodbye to the LCR Honda MotoGP team this weekend after three seasons together as he moves on to ride for NGM Forward Racing. Bradl acknowledged, “I like the atmosphere we have had over these three years so it will be a bit sad, but I’m looking forward to a new challenge with a new team and a new bike. I’m not happy with this season overall and we have had some unlucky moments. Sachsening was a disaster. Sometimes performances were not as good as they could have been, but I need to take experience from this and learn for the future.”

For De Puniet Valencia is a chance for a MotoGP cameo return as he races for Team Suzuki MotoGP as a wild card on Sunday. The Frenchman enthused, “I’m very happy to be here and it is like a prize for me to take part in this race. We have worked hard with the bike so I just want to enjoy it and do my best then we will see what happens. It could be my last race in MotoGP so we have to enjoy the moment, because you never know what will happen in the future.”