The British GP got under way with an in form Esteve Rabat leading the list of times, with a lap of 1’45.105 secs. Just 5 minutes after the free practice started, and when Esteve Rabat led the classification, heavy rain fell at Donington Park. After several minutes waiting for the storm to pass the riders went back out on the track and once again Rabat was among the fastest, 3rd, this time in the wet.
After the difficult weekend in Germany this afternoon the Repsol rider started calmly at the British track, hoping to recover some good sensations on his Aprilia RSA, and the result of this attitude was that he got the best out of himself. This was the first time that he has felt comfortable on the Aprilia in the rain, and that could be seen from his pace which gradually got faster until he set his best time of 1 minute 51.887 seconds, just 2 tenths off the fastest time set by Sergio Gadea.
Scott Redding, in front of a home crowd, did not have a bad start and set a time of 1 minute 52.501 seconds, the 7th fastest time in the wet in the category today. The Repsol rider had done just one lap on a dry track – warming up the engine on his Aprilia – so his best lap of the day was that one, far behind many of the times that a lot of riders set on the dry track.
Marc Márquez also had a good pace in the wet, although problems with the electrics delayed him for some time in the pits, he did just 12 laps. The Repsol rider in the end was 4th in the classification, although his best time in the wet – 1 minute 52.541 seconds – would put him in 8th in the theoretical wet time classification, which lasted 55 minutes.
His teammate Cameron Beaubier, finished 13th in the final classification, although he took a little more time to get used to the wet track. Many riders agree that Donington Park is one of the tracks with the least grip in the rain, and in these conditions the American rookie needed more time to get his confidence. In the end his best lap was 1 minute 54.782 seconds.
Marc Márquez, 1’46.441 secs, 12 laps, 48 km. >> Audio
“This was not an easy session because the rain began early on and we could only do one lap at a good pace. I took things calmly because it was just the beginning of the weekend, and I finished 4th, but these times do not mean much. Then we waited for the storm to pass and when we went out we had a problem with the electrics, and that made us stop a couple of times. I lost quite a bit of time there but luckily it was free practice, we solved the problem and after that I did 4 laps where I was able to pick up some sensations from the wet track”.
Esteve Rabat, 1’45.105 secs, 21 laps, 84 km. >> Audio
“I felt fine in both the dry as well as the wet. When we began I soon felt comfortable in the dry and when it rained I felt exactly the same. I went out to ride calmly trying to find my feet on the bike, and the track, bit by bit and in the end the lap time was good. It is the first time that I had some good sensations with this bike in the rain, meaning that the whole team has taken a giant stride forwards, and that is good.
We have to carry on improving, although overall the practice went well. Tomorrow no rain is expected, so it will be a different kettle of fish and so we will have to make another big effort”.
Scott Redding, 1’52.501 secs, 16 laps, 64 km. >> Audio
“We had just started warming up and it began to rain. Things did not go too badly because the conditions are the same for us all, so we tried some new parts out and they worked well. On the final five laps I did try to push the bike a bit more, but keeping an eye on the level of grip and that went quite well too. I think if it rains we will not have too many problems, and that is good. We have a good set up for qualification tomorrow, although we have another free practice to improve things in”.
Cameron Beaubier, 1’48.985 secs, 18 laps, 72 km. >> Audio
“It began to rain two laps after I started, and the only thing we had done was to warm the engine a little. I did not feel at all comfortable on the wet track to start with but I did feel more comfortable later on. Anyway, I did not want to take too many risks because it is only the first day and the track was very slippery. At the end I think my pace was much better, and I felt fine taking the conditions into account”.
