"I'm a lot less shy than I used to be"

Moto2 rider Marc Márquez likes nothing better than to spend the day having a laugh with his mechanics, pestering them while they try to work. The 19-year-old never seems to be worried about anything - not even the fact he is on the verge of winning the championship title. He admits he feels under pressure, but that doesn't mean he's nervous. On the track he shows huge audacity. He always hunts down a win - or a gap, no matter how small, where he can get the front wheel of his Suter in.

He showed that kind of nerve on Sunday, where he had to work doubly hard after stalling at the start of the race in Japan. Left behind by the rest of the 32-strong field, he fought back to win the race nevertheless.

EL PAÍS caught up with Márquez to ask him some rapid-fire questions.

Question. What did you buy with your first wage packet?

Answer. Something for my bike, no doubt. Maybe some goggles for motocross, or some decals for my bike.

Q. If you hadn't been a rider, you would have been...

A. A mechanic.

Q. How many interviews have you given in the last year?

A. I don't know... Four each race, more or less, plus the ones I've done off the circuit. Four times 20... 80. It must be about 80.

Q. Given all those questions you've been asked, are you any less shy than you were when you started competing in the world championships?

A. I'm a lot less shy. When I arrived, aged just 15, I saw a load of journalists, with three or four microphones in front of me... It took me aback.

Q. Your friend Iannone revealed that you sit your girlfriend in the stands, where she won't be spotted. Aren't you afraid you'll lose her?

A. No... I'm 19 years old. And when I go to the circuit, I'm there to work. There's a right moment for everything. When it's all over, she's allowed to come back down.

Q. There's three years of difference between you and your brother Álex, but how much taller than you is he?

A. He's 175cm [5' 9"], so he must be seven or eight centimeters taller than me.

Q. Your brother has not been competing for long. Does he listen to advice from his big brother?

A. Yes. He listens to Emilio [Alzamora, who manages them both], because I've told him to pay attention to him, given that he has more experience. But of course, I try to help him. He's always receptive. He's made some big changes, and that's been for the better. Over the last two or three years he's matured. It happens to all of us.

Q. Do you get nervous when you see him racing?

A. Yes, because when it's you on the bike, you know what you're doing at all times, and why. But when you're watching it on the screen... When Álex is going quick I never know if it's because he's pushing himself to the limit, or if it's getting easy for him, and when someone passes him and he can't keep up, I don't know whether it's simply because he can't, or if it's some kind of problem with the bike or with the set-up, for example.

Q. Would you know how to vote in a referendum about the independence of Catalonia?

A. Yes, I would know how to vote.

Q. Which film have you seen the most times?

A. Transporter. I’ve devoured all of those films. I’ve also seen The Pacifier quite a few times.

Q. Cats or dogs?

A. Dogs.

Q. Which is the best bike on the Moto2 grid?

A. The Suter.

Q. Would you rather be a Moto2 champion or go up against [MotoGP star Valentino] Rossi?

A. Right now I'd rather be a Moto2 champion. The rest is yet to come, but my dream, the one that I can see closest, is that one.