Repsol Honda continue with positive feeling on final day of Sepang preseason test
The first test of 2014 has concluded with the World Champion, Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez, remaining the quickest man on track throughout the three days. Today −the final day of the three-day test− Marc broke the Sepang lap record with a time of 1’59.533 (beating Casey Stoner’s time from 2012 of 1’59.607) on lap 10 of 40. His teammate, Dani Pedrosa, finished 6th fastest overall with a best lap time of 2’00.223 on lap 29 of 55 today.
Marc spent his final day in Sepang working on electronics and running a 20 lap race simulation. In total, he completed 167 laps over the three days of this first test. Dani tested geometry settings on the bike looking to improve rear grip and found some positive solutions. He had issues with the front brakes in the morning which disrupted his chance at a time attack, nevertheless it was a productive end to a busy test in which he completed 192 laps over the three days.
This has been a positive start for the Repsol Honda Team and the HRC engineers, who will now return to Japan with plenty of data to prepare for the next test, scheduled in Sepang from the 26-28 February.
Marc Márquez >> Audio
1:59.533, 40 laps, 222 km.
“I’m pretty happy with how the three days here in Sepang have gone and we have started the pre-season well. It’s true that this is only the first test and we still have work to do, but we’ve already been able to do a race simulation and it has all gone well. We have tried many setups and we have gathered a lot of data, so we will be well prepared for the next test here. We still have some things to try out, so we must make the most of the days we have remaining here this preseason.
Physically I feel good, I haven’t stopped over this past month and have had a packed schedule, but I have been able to continue training. I was a little weak here when I arrived, because I had the flu last week, but in the end I felt fine which is the most important thing. We can always improve and this test will help me to up my fitness.”
Dani Pedrosa >> Audio
2:00.223, 55 laps, 305 km.
“On this third day we focused on the chassis, looking to gain more rear grip and I feel that we have made a lot of progress here. This morning we had a problem with the brakes on both bikes and I lost a lot of time, right in the part of the day in which you can put in a fast lap. However, I am happy that we were able to improve the setup and in general today was a positive day. At the next test, I hope that we can continue from where we left off today, and continue improving before moving on to Phillip Island.”
