World Championship leader sets fourth best time on combined standings, led by Espargaro, Smith and Bradl. Dani Pedrosa takes ninth fastest lap.
On Friday Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa completed the first two practice sessions of the seventh round of the 2014 World Championsip, the Catalan Grand Prix. The World Championship leader ended the day in fourth place and his teammate in ninth, in an atypical combined timesheet led by Espargaró, Smith and Bradl.
Under a hot sun that pushed thermometers to 34°C in the the second session –track temperatures peaked at 55°C– Marquez and Pedrosa made the first adjustments to their bikes at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The reigning World Champion, seventh in the first session, improved in the second runout by half a second to end the day with a quickest time of 1’42.274, putting himself fourth overall. Pedrosa, who in the morning stopped the clock at 1’42.664, failed to lower his top time in the afternoon runout and placed tenth –ninth overall.
The Repsol Honda Team riders will have two further free practice sessions before the final 15 minute qualifying session tomorrow.
Marc Marquez >> Audio
4th, 1:42.274 sec, 38 laps, 180 km.
“Despite not being at the top today, I am happy with how this first day of practice for the Catalan Grand Prix went and I’ve made good progress. In the first session I found things a little difficult, but in the second session we improved and this has led to us having a clear direction to go in tomorrow. I think this is the most important thing to take from today”.
Dani Pedrosa >> Audio
9th, 1:42.664 sec, 35 laps, 165 km.
“The good news is that I was able to ride better today than in Mugello. I hope that with a few more laps under my belt I will loosen up even more, and things will go even better. This afternoon we tried out the larger brake discs, which react better and mean that you need to use the brake lever a little differently with your fingers, which is something I am getting used to. We also worked with the hard tyre compound on the front and the rear, and I was able to use them for the entire afternoon session”.
