Marc Marquez says he will maintain the same program of preparation for the second half of the MotoGP season.

MotoGP World Championship leader Marc Marquez is approaching the second-half of the season with the same mindset as he did prior to his debut premier class race, indicating he feels a natural level of pressure that comes with defending a points advantage.

The Repsol Honda talent heads into the Indianapolis Grand Prix with a solid 16-point advantage over teammate Dani Pedrosa, a buffer built on the back of three race wins and podium finishes at every circuit bar his DNF in Italy.

With every race, the 20-year-old Spaniard is moving ever closer to the milestone mark of best-ever rookie rider, but says he won’t alter his preparations based upon the early success.

“At the moment, the target, the mentality, it’s completely the same than the first part of the season,” said Marquez. “You know, I feel a little bit the pressure because we are leading the championship, and, you know, we did a very good race.

“So you feel a pressure that you need to keep the level. But anyway, I will try to prepare and to keep the thing level, but our mentality is completely the same as the beginning of the season.”

He said he had originally targeted rostrum finishes and race wins in the second-half of the season, and was surprised at his strength so early in the year.

“I’m surprised; if I’m honest, I didn’t expect that before the season,” he continued. “The target was especially in the races, try to finish the races and try to get some points.

“And then before to finish the first part of the season, try to get some volume. And then on the second part, to be close on the podium and try to win some race.

“But, you know, already I won three races and I finish off the races on the podium. So I didn’t expect that to be before the season, but I think it’s so good to feel like that on the bike, because from the beginning, I feel quite good, I feel quite strong.”

He heads to Indianapolis well on track to not only score his third race win in a row at the circuit – Moto2 grands prix considered – but also a realistic chance at winning all three US GPs for the 2013 season.

“I like the American style also, and we go in another circuit that’s in America, I feel so good,” he added. “But especially here in Indianapolis, I won the last two years, and that is good news to go there because you feel a little bit different, but Indianapolis, it’s always special from its history.”