Repsol rider leads both free practice sessions on Friday, in which Dani Pedrosa improved his times and moved up to sixth on the timesheets.
The slimmest of margins allowed Marc Marquez to take the fastest time in free practice for the Qatar Grand Prix. The Repsol rider led the standings on Friday, just a thousandth of a second ahead of Jorge Lorenzo. He was 0.242 quicker than Cal Crutchlow, who placed third on a night in which Dani Pedrosa finished sixth on the timesheet –0.418 off his Repsol Honda Team colleague.
Despite a strong wind and the constant blowing of sand onto the Losail Interational Circuit, both Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa were able to substantially improve their times from yesterday. Marquez surprised in the first session with the fastest time after 15 laps, and then did so again over 16 laps in the second session. His best time was a 1’56.084.
Pedrosa was unable to lower his times in the first session, in which he undertook 16 laps. However, he managed to do so in the second session –by more than 1.3 seconds. The Repsol rider put in 17 laps and stopped the clock with a 1’56.502 –4 tenths off Marquez’ time.
Tomorrow sees a brief final free practice session of 30 minutes in duration, and a new qualifying format. For 15 minutes, the 14 slowest riders in the combined free practice standings will contest Q1. Then, the 2 quickest from Q1 will join the 10 quickest from free practice for the grid-deciding session that will set pole and beyond for the Sunday race.
Dani Pedrosa >> Audio
FP2: 1:57.877, 16 laps, 86 km.
FP3: 1:56.502, 17 laps, 91 km.
“We improved a little today and are now further up the order. We are faster and entering corners better, but we’ve still got a way to go. We hope to gain a little rear grip, which would allow us to ride more comfortably. The times keep dropping with every session, but we are going to try to keep getting better and prepare for qualifying and the race. The track isn’t in good condition this year and I don’t think that this will change; maybe it will improve slightly as more laps are completed. However, this doesn’t mean making any big changes to the bike –just improving the setup for the conditions we have”
Marc Márquez >> Audio
FP2: 1:56.477, 15 laps, 81 km.
FP3: 1:56.084, 17 laps, 91 km.
“Practice today went pretty well –better than expected. I was very comfortable on the bike, and this is the important thing. Our foundation isn’t bad at all, we are improving in every session and working with Sunday’s race in mind. What we are missing is a bit of pace and consistency. We will have to make the most of the 30 minutes that we have before qualifying tomorrow to improve those points”
