Repsol Honda rider goes fastest on wet tyres and places just 117 thousandths off pole. Marc Márquez sets the sixth best time.
The second day of the Argentinian GP saw every session held in wet conditions, although Q2 featured a dry line on almost the entire track.
Marc Márquez was fastest in FP3 and FP4. He began Q2 with wet tyres, put on slicks for one lap and went back out with his Honda set up for wet conditions.
Dani Pedrosa was tenth in FP3 and second in FP4. He set the second best time in qualifying on wet tyres.
MARC MÁRQUEZ | 6th 1:47.754
“Today was quite challenging but very positive as a whole. Qualifying didn’t go as expected but we are not that far. I struggled a bit in my first exit on rain tyres and I don’t know why, because in FP3 and FP4 I had a very good feeling. I decided to try the slick tyres but it was too risky. As soon as I exited the pit I realised that if I touched the wet side of the track the risk of crashing was great. When I passed turn seven and eight I started thinking that pole position is important but that the race is tomorrow, so I came back. It’s a pity we’re not on the front row but I’m happy because I think we’ve worked well this weekend. Yesterday on the dry we’ve been competitive and we’ve been fast today on the wet also. I prefer dry conditions for the race but we’re also ready in case it rains. We’ll see how the weather is tomorrow and what the track conditions are like, then go from there.”
DANI PEDROSA | 2nd 1:47.330
“What a qualifying session. It was very tight and challenging with the mixed conditions. Once the rain stopped the track started to dry pretty quickly, and at a certain point there was even a dry line. The problem was that turn 7 was completely wet, and then the final corner was pretty damp as well. Jack (Miller) made an incredible pole on slicks. After my first exit, which wasn’t perfect, I considered switching to slicks as well. In the end, I decided to stay with rain tyres and to try and push to the limit. I did a good lap and I’m very happy with the result, because being on the front row is important for tomorrow. Honestly, it’s difficult at the moment to know what tyre choice we’ll make for the race as conditions have changed so much over the weekend. So we’ll wait and see how the weather will be tomorrow, looking forward to a good race either way.”