Repsol Honda Team riders third and fifth, respectively, on day one of practice for German Grand Prix.
The Sachsenring today hosted the first practice sessions for round eight of the MotoGP World Championship. Series leader Dani Pedrosa and teammate Marc Marquez placed third and fifth, respectively, in the overall standings at the end of the opening day. Ahead of them were home rider Stefan Bradl and reigning titlist Jorge Lorenzo, who –like two weeks ago in Holland- crashed heavily at the start of the second session.
Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa were quickest in the opening session, separated by just 0.174s. Marquez was 0.350s off the top spot on the first day of the German GP. In the second runout, Pedrosa was second, behind Stefan Bradl and just ahead of Marquez –who steadily improved his feeling and lowered his times from the morning.
Dani Pedrosa >> Audio
FP1 – 1:22.221, 24 laps, 88 km.
FP2 – 1:22.239, 25 laps, 92 km.
“Today we focused on tyres, in order to find out what the ideal choice will be for Sunday’s race and lately we have had some problems with the compounds being a little harder than normal. I had time to test all the options and in general things went well. However, tomorrow we have to find a slightly better setup for cornering. As for Jorge, let’s see how his condition is before commenting –we still don’t know details. At the moment it doesn’t look good for him, so I wish him well.”
Marc Marquez >> Audio
FP1 – 1:22.397, 22 laps, 81 km.
FP2 – 1:22.251, 23 laps, 84 km.
“The day has been very positive and I’m very happy with how practice has gone so far, as I have been slowly improving. From the start I felt very comfortable –with it being a smaller circuit, the speed isn’t so different compared to when you’re riding a Moto2 bike. Of course, you reach your braking markers quicker and you have to use new references, but it isn’t that different to other circuits. This helps me to adapt a little more quickly. We have been working hard, but there are still some places on the track where I have to improve, be more consistent and find a good setup. Tomorrow we will try to continue in the same way, just as focused. I am sorry to see Jorge suffer another big crash, we wait to hear news and I send him my best wishes.”
