Repsol Honda Team repeat first and second position from Jerez in first French GP practices.
Two weeks after their one-two at the Grand Prix of Spain, Dani Pedrosa and Marc Marquez returned to the head of the MotoGP standings. In free practice for the fourth round of the World Championship, which kicked off today at the Le Mans circuit in France, the duo of numbers 26 and 93 were again the men to beat.
In the first practice session, Pedrosa was fastest. On the last of 19 laps, the Repsol Honda Team rider stopped the clock at 1’34.645, 0.525 ahead of Marquez on the latter’s Le Mans MotoGP debut. Later lowering his best time by over half a second, Pedrosa once again led the timesheets in the second session, with a time of 1’34.035. Marquez also went quicker than before; he took a second off his previous best and closed the second day, 0.134 off his teammate.
Tomorrow sees the final free practice sessions and, from 14:10, the two qualifying runs that will decide the starting grid for Sunday.
Dani Pedrosa >> Audio
FP1: 1:34.645, 19 laps, 79 km.
FP2: 1:34.035, 21 laps, 88 km.
“In today’s practice sessions it was important to test the tyres and make the most of the dry track time, because here you usually don’t have that opportunity. So I tried to stay out on track for as long as possible and gather the best information, because maybe tomorrow it will rain –and you don’t have that chance again. Luckily the weather held up and we were able to make some positive steps, which we hope to capitalise on for the race on Sunday.”
Marc Marquez >> Audio
FP1: 1:35.170, 19 laps, 79 km.
FP2: 1:34.169, 18 laps, 75 km.
“Le Mans has always been a good track for me in the other classes. I was fast today right out of the box and felt comfortable. In the first session I got a bit overwhelmed, because I could tell that the track was not allowing much space for me between the corners with this bigger bike and faster pace. I didn’t have much time to think. I was calmer in the afternoon and things went much better. This track is all about accelerating and then braking, although the final sector is more twisty and has some longer corners. It is only Friday, and we still have work to do. Tomorrow, if the track is dry, we will improve our times –but the forecast predicts rain. With a little luck, on Sunday we will have a dry track and be able to have a good race”.
