Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS riders Franco Morbidelli and Álex Márquez make the short trip from Austria to the Czech Republic this week in confident mood that both can mount a serious challenge for the podium at the fast and flowing Brno track.

Morbidelli is in the form of his life after finishing on the podium in two of the three last races, which includes an outstanding career best second place finish last weekend in an entertaining battle at the Spielberg track in Austria.

The 21-year-old was happy with progress with the set-up of his Kalex machine during a rain-hit test in Austria on Monday and he is determined to continue his decent sequence of results going into Brno after he finished eighth in 2014 and 10th last season.

Márquez is certainly relishing the prospect of tackling the undulating and demanding 5.4km Brno this weekend. The Czech Republic venue is the favourite track for the former Moto3 World Champion on the 18-round schedule and he arrives in Brno full of optimism after claiming only the third top six finish of his Moto2 career in Austria last weekend.

Márquez claimed a hard fought and richly deserved sixth place in Spielberg, which was his best result in almost a year when he finished fourth in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

Márquez also took a fourth place in Brno last year, and he is aiming to put up a strong fight for his first Moto2 podium in Sunday’s 20-lap race.

Brno first staged a Grand Prix back in 1965 on a 13.94km road course and it has been staged on the current layout in all but one year since 1987.

Franco Morbidelli:
“Brno is a very different track to Austria but I really like it because it is very fast and flowing. I hope to go there and be as strong and competitive as I was in Spielberg because it was fantastic to get my best ever World Championship result last weekend. We were able to experiment with a few things at the test at Spielberg on Monday. What we tried worked well at that track so hopefully I can also feel a benefit when we get to Brno. Brno is long and wide and really fast with a lot of flowing sections and it seems to suit my riding style. I also like the undulations but there is no real secret to being fast there. You can be fast in Brno in many different ways and that is why I like it so much.”

Álex Márquez:
“Brno is my favourite track and right from my first year in the World Championship I have always enjoyed riding there a lot. It has always been a positive circuit for me but I go there with the same mentality like any other race and that is to give my maximum and try and get the best result possible. We can’t think it is going to be easy but of course our expectations are high, particularly after a very strong result in Austria last weekend. That gave me a lot of confidence and I also had a very successful test at Brno during the summer break where I was really fast, so I expect to be competitive this weekend.”