Repsol Honda riders dominate opening practice sessions for Malaysian Grand Prix.
The winner of last year’s race at Sepang, Dani Pedrosa, came out keen to maintain the level shown 12 months ago on Day 1 of practice for the Malaysian Grand Prix. The Spaniard dominated the day, claiming the fastest times in both the morning and afternoon sessions. Second to him on both occasions was Repsol Honda teammate, Marc Marquez.
In the morning, Pedrosa had already made clear his command of the Malaysian track and, after completing 17 laps, stopped the clock at a best time of 2:01.229. On his return to Sepang for the first time since pre-season testing, Marc Marquez was just 0.367s off his teammate. The gap extended to half a second in the second session, in which Pedrosa raised the bar to record a quickest lap of 2:00.554 and become the only rider to breach the 2:01 mark.
Dani Pedrosa >> Audio
FP1 – 2:01.229, 17 laps, 94 km.
FP2 – 2:00.554, 17 laps, 94 km.
“Today went well; we had two good practice sessions and were able to ride in dry conditions in both the morning and afternoon. In the second session it looked like the track was going to be wet after a brief rain shower in-between FP1 and FP2, but it dried out quickly and we were able to continue working on our setups. When sitting on the bike I have quite a lot of pain, as the seat is very hard, so we shall see if a few more anti-inflammatories can help to alleviate the issue. We might also add a small cushion underneath my leathers, in order to absorb the bumps that we get when riding.”
Marc Marquez >> Audio
FP1 – 2:01.596, 18 laps, 100 km.
FP2 – 2:01.087, 17 laps, 94 km.
“We came here before in pre-season, when I had barely ridden a MotoGP bike so it was interesting to compare things again so many laps and miles later! I felt comfortable and this is important when trying to be more consistent every lap. On the single lap we are half a second off Dani who was very fast, as he always is at Sepang, but our pace in general isn’t too far off. We have to push hard because if he can do it, that means that the Honda is capable of those times. I was hoping to be more consistent but I had some problems with braking, which we were able to solve in the opening practice session. We still need to improve a few things, but I have realised that we are already fast, straight out of the box.”
