Repsol riders escape from heavy traffic at Australian track to claim top two spots on grid.
Saturday was a great day for the interests of Alex Rins and Alex Marquez, who took the first two positions on the grid for the Australian GP in the qualifying session. The day began with the two proteges of Emilio Alzamora amongst the fastest riders in the final practice session. With compatriot Efren Vazquez occupying FP3 top spot, Rins was third quickest with a time 0.094s slower and Marquez fourth, 0.194s back.
In the qualifying session, Marquez looked very comfortable at the Australian track right from the beginning. A few laps in, he had gone quickest and remained in the top positions throughout. Rins grew in strength during a session characterised by heavy traffic on track.
The Repsol riders were able to overcome the stressful situation and managed to find space to complete a lap away from the traffic. As a reward, the dup who currently lie first and third in the overall standings took the top two spots on the grid for Sunday afternoon’s contest. Marquez set a best time of 1:36.050, with Rins 0.014s down on his teammate.
Tomorrow, Sunday, the Moto3 race will be held at 1pm local time.
Alex Rins >> Audio
2nd, 1’36.064 Sec., 39 Laps, 174 Km.
“Starting from the front row is always positive. Today’s qualifying session was quite dangerous and complicated, because there was a big group of riders. It will be essential to make a good start in tomorrow’s race, but more important will be enjoying ourselves. Tomorrow I think we’ll have a race with a very large group. We have a good pace, although I do not know if this will be important for tomorrow because a large group would cut our pace”.
Alex Marquez >> Audio
1st, 1’36.050 Sec., 38 Laps, 169 Km.
“I’m happy. Taking a pole position is very important, but I am more pleased about the pace I had on the second stint, in which I was very consistent. I have a good feeling with the bike, although the conditions were not easy because at end the wind picked up a little. Our strategy was good in qualifying, because at the very beginning we set a very good time and then we were able to keep up at the top. Eventually we found a great lap with a slipstream, so I’m happy, but the important thing is tomorrow. We have a very good pace and will have to try to fight for the victory”.
