The Repsol rider shows a progressive improvement in the two first free practice sessions in Le Mans, despite a minor crash due to the presence of oil on track
The first Free Practice session that took place today at the Bugatti circuit in Le Mans allowed Marc Márquez and his team to reach the first conclusions for the French Grand Prix. The Repsol rider was able to make the most of a sunny day in the French track to complete 44 laps and prepare the set-up of his Moto2 in two extensive sessions where he set the sixth fastest time, 527 thousandths behind Stefan Bradl.
The morning Practice Session allowed the Repsol rider to set the first references in the Moto2 class and to gradually improve his pace in the very technical French circuit. By mid session, the practice had to be suspended due to an incident on corner 10, where a rider spilled some oil from his bike’s engine and then some riders crashed. One of them was Marc Márquez, who was able to return to the garage to repair the left-hand peg and the clutch lever, apart from making some changes to the front fork adjustments. Finally, he could go back out to the track when the session resumed and finished ninth.
In the second session and with the asphalt temperature rising to 45ºC, times were reduces lap after lap in a very close session that finished with Márquez in sixth. The Repsol rider set a time of 1 minute, 39 seconds and 236 thousandths, finishing inside the group gathering from third to tenth, who were separated by only 254 thousandths.
Marc Márquez >> Audio
FP 1 – 1:39.764, 23 laps, 96 km.
FP 2 – 1:39.236, 21 laps, 88 km.
“We are happy with the work we did today, as each time we took the track we improved our times. In the first Free Session, it was a bit difficult because we arrive to a circuit hat is new for me, although I know it from 125cc, but the lines and the references are different. We have to go slowly to avoid any mistakes. I crashed due to an oil spill on track. I did not see the flag, or maybe they had not time to show it, but it was nothing serious. In the second Practice Session, we followed the same line, improving with each step. It is clear that we need to improve a bit in some aspects, but we will be again near the fastest in no time and that is always positive”.
