Marc Márquez was back in action today in the first free practice of the San Marino Grand Prix with a good pace, clocking up the second best time of the session behind his compatriot and title rival Nico Terol. As this result shows, the Repsol rider has already left behind the disappointing race held last weekend in Indianapolis, where a fall when leading the race and then a penalty dropped him to tenth place.
When the session started, Márquez stayed true to his style, starting carefully and gradually lowering his times. Riding among the top ten during the first few minutes of the session, when he went out on the track for the second time, he was among the top five, heading the timesheets before going back to the garage mid-session. In the end, he was beaten by Terol by 252 milliseconds, securing second place on the first practice day.
The work done in this first session was influenced by the dirt on the track at the beginning, but as usual, as the riders accumulated laps and the track became cleaner, Márquez was able to focus on improving his feelings in the saddle of his Derbi. The Repsol rider tried the different tyre options available with a view to Sunday, looking for a compound that allows him to ride at a good pace for many laps, Furthermore, along with his team, he evaluated different suspension set-ups that allow the Repsol rider to get through the changes of direction and more slippery areas of the San Marino track more easily.
Marc Márquez, 1’44.481 sec, 23 laps, 97 KM >> Audio
“The first feelings in Misano are quite good. Perhaps, it took us some time to get to grips with the bike because at the beginning the track was a little dirty and quite slippery but in the end, we did a good job. We tried to get as close as possible to Nico [Terol] but above all, work with the race in mind and I think that we can still improve quite a lot. We tried different tyres and some adjustments because I did not feel comfortable in the changes of direction and the bike slid quite a lot in the turns in the back part. That’s what the practices are for; to test and gradually improve and get a good set-up for the qualifier to clock up a good time”.
