Reigning MotoGP World Champion in strong form on first outing at Termas de Rio Hondo, ending opening day over a second quicker than second-placed Dani Pedrosa.
The official debut of the Termas Rio Hondo track in the MotoGP World Championship featured another dominant performance from the Repsol Honda Team. Marc Marquez led the way, with Dani Pedrosa close behind. The series leader concluded the opening day of free practice with the fastest time, more than a second quicker than Pedrosa in a demonstration of the rapid adaptation of the Spanish stars to the Argentine track.
Hindered by an extremely dirty asphalt which quickly wore down tyres in the opening session, Marquez and Pedrosa ended the initial runout fourteenth and sixteenth, respectively. In the second session Marquez improved by almost 6 seconds and Pedrosa 5, leading to them placing first and second with respective times of 1’39.313 and 1’40.396.
Using data gathered by the Repsol Honda technicians today, the pair will work in two further free practice sessions tomorrow to prepare for qualifying and for Sunday’s race.
Marc Marquez >> Audio
1st. 1:39.313 sec, 34 laps, 163 km.
“It was a fun day, it is always interesting to learn all the different corners and their secrets at a new track and the practice sessions go by more quickly. Maybe the day was affected by the first session, in which we sacrificed putting in a fast lap in order to keep the same tyre on during the entire session. That was to enable us to keep more tyres for the remainder of the weekend. This afternoon we were able to have a more normal practice session and the track had improved a lot. The tyre durability also seemed much greater than before, and I think that it will continue improving as the weekend goes on. I am happy with how this first day went and with the base that we have. We shall continue working in the same way, as we are aware that tomorrow’s times will be much closer.”
Dani Pedrosa >> Audio
2nd, 1:40.396 sec, 35 laps, 168 km.
“Overall this was a good first day, because we were able to try out the track in dry conditions. The asphalt was very dirty this morning and the tyres were getting destroyed immediately so we weren’t able to make much progress. In the afternoon the asphalt was better and we had an opportunity to put in some laps, testing things out with the bike and with the track. We were able to ride more consistently and gather data that will allow us to improve again tomorrow.”
