World Champion fastest in second practice session for Spanish GP and third overall, with Pedrosa fourth.
Sun and high temperatures were present on the first day of practice for the Spanish Grand Prix, in which the Repsol Honda Team riders made a positive start. Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa finished third and fourth, respectively, on the combined Friday timesheet, in which the best time went to Espargaro.
The reigning World Champion devoted the first session to readjusting to the Andalusian track and finished with a time of 1’39.849. That was just 11 thousandths of a second faster than teammate Dani Pedrosa, who matched his time almost exactly to place fourth. In the second session, with track temperatures at almost 50°C, Marquez took a step forward in his preparations and on his third lap improved his morning time. He topped the timesheet in the session with a time of 1’37.757, whilst Pedrosa was sixth courtesy of a 1’40.491 lap.
With two practice sessions still to come beforehand, qualifying for the Spanish GP takes place tomorrow at 2:35pm local time.
Marc Marquez >> Audio
3rd, 1:39.757, 38 laps, 168 km
“Today was a positive first day at a track where I had a lot of difficulty last year. It seems as if this year we are at the same level as the faster riders like Dani [Pedrosa], Lorenzo and Rossi right from the start, and this is obviously important. With that accomplished, we have also tried to work on things, but it was much easier to set a fast lap and pace this morning, than when the temperatures rose this afternoon. I think that everyone had grip issues, due to the track temperatures reaching 50 degrees. Tomorrow, we will try to take another step forward and work towards qualifying and the race.”
Dani Pedrosa >> Audio
4th, 1:39.860, 40 laps, 77 km
“I think that today went well, but we also need to work hard because of the track conditions. It is a lot different riding in the morning compared to in the afternoon, and in both cases there is not sufficient grip. In any case, the race takes place in the afternoon and we will have to work to make sure that the heat has as little effect as possible on performance.”
