Source: Supplied.

Current MotoGP World Championship leader Marc Marquez is positive heading into the weekend’s Austrian grand prix, a circuit which the Repsol Honda rider struggled at in the 2016 edition, placing fifth on the day.

Marquez admits the circuit has been challenging for him, although said the same about the Czech grand prix last weekend, which saw him claim a thrilling victory at the Brno venue.

“The Red Bull Ring is a circuit where we struggled quite a bit last year, but hopefully this year it will be different,” Marquez explained. “Brno also used to be a challenging track for us but in the end we got a fantastic result, so we’re going to Austria feeling positive.

“In the post-race test we were able to look into several aspects of our bike’s setup, also in view of the next race, such as getting better acceleration and reducing the wheelying. Of course we also need good stability on the brakes so we’ll see – as always, it will be a matter of finding a good compromise.

“The Red Bull Ring round is also important for one of our main sponsors, and we’ll do our best to get a good result for them and to gain important points for the Championship.”

The multi-time world champion holds 14-point advantage heading into the Red Bull Ring this week, which will mark the 11th stop on the calendar.