BEATING a rampant Marc Marquez, who has won five races in a row, will be a tall order by any means.
But that will not stop Petronas Yamaha Sepang Racing Team (SRT) from going all out in this weekend’s Shell Malaysia Motorcycle Grand Prix.
The outfit have done better than many expected in their first year in MotoGP.
SRT’s Fabio Quarataro, who has already secured the Rookie of the Year title, has had a good season so far with four pole positions and six podium finishes to his name this year. He is riding alongside last year’s Rookie of the Year Franco Morbidelli.
The team, however, suffered a disappointing outing at Phillip Island last week. Quartararo was taken out by another rider early in the race while Morbidelli finished 11th.
SRT team principal Datuk Razlan Razali said finding a way to beat Marquez, who has already wrapped up the world title this year, is a question which not many teams have been able to answer.
‘This is the first time we will be racing at our home GP and with Quartararo having a great season, we will have many new fans behind the team,’ said Razlan yesterday.
‘It will be interesting to see who will be able to beat Marquez. So far only Ducati and Suzuki riders have done it this year.
‘We will be going all out to get our first win at Sepang and hopefully give the Malaysian fans something special this year.’
Razlan stressed that protecting SRT's position in the constructors’ championship will be also a priority.
‘Our target this week is to maintain our position as the top independent team. We are now fourth (with 268 points) in the overall standings,’ added Razlan.
Ducati lead the standings with 409 points, followed by Repsol Honda (408) and Monster Energy Yamaha (329).