The first free practice of the Catalunya Grand Prix has had two clear protagonists: Marc Márquez and the boiling hot weather that riders and fans have found at Catalonian track. The Repsol rider continues to demonstrate exceptional form and a stratospheric pace, heading the 125cc timesheets for the third week running, after the first sixty minutes of free practice at Montmeló.
With over thirty degrees centigrade in the atmosphere and almost fifty on the track, Márquez started cautiously, gradually increasing the pace throughout the session. It did not take him long to climb to the top of the timesheets, while along with his team, he carried out different tyre tests to check their performance on the boiling asphalt. To adapt to the damaged asphalt of the circuit – potholed by the Formula 1 races – the Repsol rider spent the start of the session fine-tuning the suspension set-up on his Derbi RSA, although he needed just a few laps to feel comfortable on his home track.
Márquez ended the day with a time of 1 minute, 51 seconds and 219 milliseconds, followed by Smith two-tenths behind, and Terol and Espargaró at seven-tenths. Over two seconds separated the rest of the pack from the leading four, who once again look set to battle for the Grand Prix win. The Repsol rider is convinced that he can further improve his times on the second day, on a track where the development chosen to tackle the long straight and the suspension set-up for the fast turns at the end of the track will be key.
Tomorrow, the second day of practice will be held, with the qualifying session at one o’clock in the afternoon, when the starting grid for Sunday’s race will be defined.
Marc Márquez, 1’51.219 sec, 25 laps, 118 km. >> Audio
“We’ve done quite well, riding comfortably throughout the session, which is what matters. I’m very confident with the bike and that makes things easier. However, I think that we can improve even more tomorrow. We’ve tried different tyres and suspension adjustments and in all cases we’ve been quite fast. At the moment, the most complicated factor is the heat, although it’s the same for everybody. It makes riding much harder and although I’m fit enough to withstand it and it doesn’t affect me much, it’s more difficult to keep focused all the time. We’ll have to adapt and give it our all.”
