In spite of some rain warnings the second day of the Italian GP was held in bright sunshine again. In these conditions Scott Redding repeated the same classification as in France, and was second fastest on the day. Marc Márquez also improved and gradually made his way into the fastest group of riders.
The free practice was apparently not as positive as it could have been since Redding, as well as Márquez and Rabat, finished some way down the field; 11th, 14th and 21st respectively. However, they used the 40 minutes usefully and improved the set up on their bikes, this was obvious as soon as they got out on the track for classification.
In the final session today Redding did not take long to get in the fastest group in the 125cc category and Márquez, after adjusting the chassis, suspension and tyres, was able to do a 1’58.947 on his final lap. Redding, who was just behind Márquez, did his last few laps without making any mistakes, meaning that he finished 297 thousandths off the pole position set by Bradley Smith.
The particular characteristics of this circuit did not allow Rabat to take advantage of his Aprilia. In spite of having overcome the initial problems he had with the set up and once again feeling as confident as he had done yesterday, the Repsol rider did not have the necessary pace to set a fast time. Without a good reference that would have let him ride faster, Rabat fell down the field and in the end was 14th.
Marc Márquez, 1’58.947 secs, 33 laps, 173 km. >> Audio
“I took some time to adapt to the circuit yesterday, I had to take the bike to its limit y and I was still far off the fastest times, and in the end I had a fall. We tried several different tyres and we have decided which we will use. We also tried several solutions on the suspension, and made big changes to the chassis set up to see clearly which was the best line to follow. The team did a great job and we got a good set up for the classification. This afternoon we will put the final touches to the bike so that we avoid the tyres wearing too quickly, and improve the grip on the rear wheel. Normally here the race is in a group, and although Simón or Smith can get away on their own, we will try to get in the big chasing group and finish as high as we possibly can, but above all finish the race. In France I could not finish and here, with so many bumps, any mistake can mean a fall, so we will fight to stay on the bike and finish in a good position.”
Esteve Rabat, 1’59.974 secs, 30 laps, 157 km. >> Audio
“The weekend is turning out to be complicated, it just has not got off the ground at all. In the first free session we were 8th but this morning we had a lot of problems with the set up. We solved them this afternoon and so I am pleased because this morning it was impossible to ride the bike. We lacked pace and I was riding alone for a lot of the time without picking up the wheel of a fast rider, and nobody arrived and so I lost a lot of time. The race tomorrow will be in a group for sure, and it will be important to have a good start.”
Scott Redding, 1’58.431 secs, 33 laps, 173 km. >> Audio
“In the practice this morning we had some problems, so we changed some things on the engine and the suspension and things went better. Now everything is working well, the weather helped us and the track was in better conditions than in the morning. The problem this morning was that we went off the line on the corners, I even went off the track, but now the set up is good. If we get a good start I think we have what we need to fight it out this season. It may rain tomorrow but with what we have I will try to take advantage of this classification to get a good result, between 3rd and 5th.”
