MotoGP one shots

Marc Marquez- So proud

Requested by @miaweston424

No one tells you how hard it is to be a rookie in a series but they definitely should as I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I was brought into f2 last season but my god was it tough. Of course I've been racing for most of my life and been trying to get into f3 for a few years but then all of a sudden I was offered a seat in f2 so I took it right away. That was the best and worst decision I've ever made as it got me one step closer to my dream but its been so difficult to get to grips with the car and I've had just about the worst rookie season with a lot of crashes and only scoring points in a few races. Over the break I wanted to give up but Marc pushed me to keep going and work harder than ever and he told me just how much he believed in me which is the only thing that kept me going.

During the break I have worked incredibly hard to work on not just my fitness but also on my driving by spending hours in the simulator which has taken a lot of my time but it has been worth it. During pre season testing I feel like I really improved and ended up being one of the fastest in every test which for me was a huge improvement and gave me some new found motivation to keep going and prove that I can be just as good as the guys. However now that it is the first race of the season I couldn't be more nervous as actual races are very different to testing. After testing things went from one extreme to another as before testing many people were disappointed in my performance but after many put me in the championship fight and expected me to dominate from the start which feels like a lot of pressure seeing as I struggled so much last year.

To start with I didn't want to go to the race as I was so nervous but I had to go although it was made a bit better as Marc isn't racing this weekend so he came with me to keep me calm and to watch me race as he will always try and watch me race whether its in person or on tv. Having him with me is great but it also adds a bit more pressure as he's one of the best motogp riders and although we are just dating I think people believe that just being with him should make me a better driver. I also feel like I have to do well or he will be disappointed in me even though that would never happen and actually he is usually the one telling me how great I did and how proud he is even if I had a bad race. However so far this weekend no one has asked me about Marc and he has really helped get me into the right mind set before each session which has helped me do my best right from the start instead of being nervous and taking time to settle in.

Friday morning we had practice which I used to get used to the track in real life not just the simulation and to see what my pace was by setting some fast laps towards the end. The whole session I didn't look at the timing screen as I wanted to see what I could do on my own but after the session the team showed me and I was top by just over 3 tenths which felt really good. After that we worked on how I could improve even more with the car and discussed sector 2 as that was my worst sector until it was time for qualifying and I had to get back in the car. Qualifying is a 30 minute session in which you have to set the best lap you can so instead of trying to be strategic or holding back like I used to I just went for it right from the start and followed my own schedule on when to come in and when to go back out. Doing my own thing seems to be the way forward as I got pole position this time by 5 tenths which meant I had pace over my closest rivals.

Now that it's Saturday it's sprint race time which I'm much more nervous about as the top 10 places are reversed so I'll be starting from 10th on the grid which means a lot of work to get into the positions I would want to be in but deep down I know I can do it. All morning Marc has been trying to keep me distracted so that I don't spiral too much before the race but eventually I had to start thinking about the race so Marc switched to hyping me up and getting me ready to go out which he's pretty good at. He was with me right up until the last minute which meant he came out onto the grid and was the last person to talk to me before I got in the car which meant his words were the ones flowing around my head before heading on the formation lap and as I headed to the grid to actually start the race. Marc doesn't seem like he has a way with words and usually he doesn't but when it comes to before a race he always knows what to say somehow and I always use those words to get me through a race.