Repsol Honda Team rider second on first day of practice, just 0.003s off the top time. Dani Pedrosa goes seventh fastest, half a second down.
The Repsol Honda team riders made a good start to the Indianapolis Grand Prix on Friday. The tenth round of the MotoGP World Championship began with Marc Marquez second on the combined timesheets and Dani Pedrosa seventh, trailing fastest rider Jorge Lorenzo.
On his first contact with ‘The Brickyard’ this year, Marc Marquez completed 19 laps in the opening session for the second fastest time of the morning -0.093s off Lorenzo. Dani Pedrosa was fourth, less than 4 tenths down after putting in 17 laps.
In the second free practice session, the reigning World Champion improved by over 8 tenths and stopped the clock at 1:32.863 –this time only 0.003s behind Lorenzo. Pedrosa lowered his time by almost 7 tenths to conclude the day seventh, with a time of 1:33.377.
Tomorrow sees the second day of practice and qualifying for Sunday’s Indianapolis Grand Prix.
Marc Marquez>> AUDIO
2nd – 1:32.863, 38 laps, 158 km
“t was the first day back after the break and I think it went pretty well overall. I felt comfortable on the bike and that is the most important thing. The track is gaining grip but we must continue working in the same way in order to continue improving. Currently Jorge is the rider that seems to be strongest, but tomorrow we will try to get a little closer to him”.
Dani Pedrosa>> AUDIO
7th – 1:33.377, 36 laps, 150km
“Today we tried the softer tyres in the morning and in the afternoon the harder compound. The track conditions were a little difficult, although they improved as the laps went by. In the afternoon it was quite hot and the tyres stepped out a lot. I’m sure we will have better grip in FP3 and we will go faster. Tomorrow we will try to improve the setup of the bike in the heat and set a good lap in qualifying.”
