Tyre issues mean Marc Marquez may be forced to 'manage' his pace in Sunday's Valencia MotoGP finale - as was needed in the now c🐻ontroversial Phillip Island race.

The Repsol Honda star is suffering from the same front tyre overheating problems and, unless a set-up solution is found, will again not be able to push flat-out throug🐠hout 🌳the race.

LCR's Cal Crutchlow has identical issues, the Englishman even hoping to 💎convince Bridgestone to roll out the medium compound front tyre. At present only the Extra Soft, Asymmetric and So💯ft compounds are available.

"This afternoon we just did runs of 3-4 laps and looks🉐 like here after 4-5 laps, not only the rear tyre, but also the front tyre i🌸s overheating," Marquez explained. "Because I think nobody expected this temperature here at Valencia and looks like the front tyres are on the soft side. But we are working on the set-up of the bike to try to stress less the front tyre."

At Phillip Island, Marquez adapted to the problem by backing off anꦛd allowing the rubber to recover before pushing again. The outcome was a thrilling victory, passing Lorenzo just a few corners from the finish.

But Mar🌠quez's fluctuating race pace caught the eye of world championship leader Valentino Rossi, who accused Marquez of 'playing' with the other riders to try and help Lorenzo - flatly denied by Marquez - setting the scene for their Malaysian showdown.

When it was pointed out that the same 💮front tyre problems caused the Phillip Is🐟land conspiracy theories, Marquez replied:

"Yeah, of course. But you know in the end it looks like here I need to try to manage again the tyres.ඣ In Phillip Is🎃land it was the 31 [Extra Soft] tyre like here and the 32 [Soft] is the same as we raced at Le Mans, where I also struggled a lot with the front.

"So looks like when we are on the soft compound fronts we are struggling more than the Yamaha riders. And we must manage. We cannot push all the laps because then we overheat the tyre. At the moment we are like this but I hope tomorrow we improve - geometry, set-up, balance - andꦛ꧑ can try to push all the race."

Asked if he would support Crutchl🌜ow's request for the medium front tyre to be called-up, 𓆏Marquez said:

"Can be an option because already this morning when we push less, when the tyre temperature is low, the 31 [Extra Soft] was too soft. So there is no meaning to try the 31 again. Then the asymmetric is not so bad, but is just the asymmetric that we use at Phillip Island last year and it is a little bit strange on straight braking. You can feel some strange mov🍃ement. And yeah I will ask also like Cal if they💮 have some stock of the 33 [Medium]."

Quizzed about the front tyre selection and Friday issues raised by some Honda riders, a Bridgestone spokesman told mahbx.com: "The medium compound front has never been used at Valencia so it could be a dangerous proposition at places ꦗlike turn four.

"From today's data we can see there is no safety issue with the present tyre selection doing the race distance or sufferin♑g any graining. Some riders may need to manage their tyres, in terms of pace during the race, but we would expect them to make further improvements to their set-up by Sunday.

"The asymmetric front tyre is the same as at Phillip Island last year, but also the same a🌳s we used here last season wh🔯en it was well received."

Marquez set his best lap of the day during the mo🎃rning session. Only Loren💃zo went faster in the afternoon, when Marquez was fifth (+0.370s).

"It was a positive day for us," Marquez confirmed. "This morning I go out, I feel good. For this afternoon we changed some things and the rhythm was good. We tried the hard tyre and then we came back to th🐠e [medium rear], but the other people put a new [medium] at the end and I kept the tyre from the morning with a race distance and still the lap time was '31.4. So I'm happy because the pace was good. I don't know how is my level with the new tyres, but at the moment looks like again Lorenzo is the strongest one on Friday."

Ironically, given the uproar following the Malaysian clash, Rossi's title chances will 🐻be significantly boosted if the likes of Marquez and team-mate Dani Pedrosa can beat Lorenzo on Sunday.

"Similar. Very similar," Marquez said of his race pace relative to practice leader Lorenzo. "The thing is that I don't know how my pace is with the new tyre, but I think will be not faster than Jorge. But with the use💯d tyre looks like I feel good, like more-or-less in Malaysia. We are using the same style of bike to try to use more the second part of the race and looks like with the used tyre the pace is good."

And 🍰h❀ave there been any special instructions for Honda regarding the Yamaha title battle?

"No. Honda and𓆉 Nakamoto-san only ask that we try to win the race, that me and Dani try t𝕴o finish first and second."