It hasn't been easy, but Marc Marquez believes he has found a base set-up and 'sweet feeling' with the 2017 Repsol Honda.

That's bad news for his rivals, given the reigning world champion already holds a 16-point title lead heading into this weekend's British MotoGP at Silverstone.

"We will to keep at this level. What I don’t want to lose is this feeling with the bike that I have now," said the Spaniard, who was just 0.176s from victory in Austria after seeing a final-turn attack repelled by Andrea Dovizioso.

"What I tried on the last lap was because I started to feel the limit again. For example, in Brno I saved a lot of crashes and I start to feel again this sweet feeling with the bike. This is the most important for me.

“Step by step, we’ve been able to find a good base for our bike and this is very good, as one of my goals is to always be there at the front and be very consistent at all tracks and in all conditions.

"In Brno and Austria we are able to be there always: Wet, mix, dry, hot, cold."

Marquez's only premier-class Silverstone win was in 2014 and he was forced to settle for fourth last season after a running off during a thrilling battle with Cal Crutchlow, in a race won by Maverick Vinales.

"I know that Yamaha is working really good there and Maverick won [for Suzuki] last year there. But anyway, I’m feeling good with the bike now," he said. "It’s a bumpy track. We need to find a very good setup. Last year I was competitive. Just I choose the incorrect option with the front tyre. I choose too soft."

Dovizioso, now Marquez's nearest championship challenger, was sixth at Silverstone last year.

Vinales and Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi, third and fourth in the world championship, have dropped 24 and 33 points respectively behind Marquez.

Fifth in the standings is Marquez's team-mate Dani Pedrosa, yet to win at Silverstone, but on the podium in 2012 and 2013.

"The team is working well, in Austria we overturned a difficult weekend to get a positive result in the race. Now we go to a difficult track which is bumpy and where the weather is always unstable!

"We'll be aiming to improve and be focused because last year was difficult so we must be out lapping and learning about the tyres and the setup to be prepared for Sunday's race."

Both Marquez and Pedrosa took part in a one-day private test at Misano on Sunday, where they focussed on set-up work for this weekend.