The Repsol Honda Team riders conclude qualifying in sixth and eleventh position, respectively, at the Japanese Grand Prix.
Marc Márquez finished fourth in FP3 and was fastest in FP4, in which he crashed one minute from the end, coming into Turn 9.
In qualifying, the World Championship leader was among the fastest on the timesheets, but finally finished 299 thousandths of a second off the pole position taken by Andrea Dovizioso.
Dani Pedrosa, sixth in FP3 and thirteenth in FP4, was eleventh in Q2, stopping the clock 9 tenths off the top.
MARC MÁRQUEZ | 6th 1’44.889
“In FP4 I crashed on the bike that I was feeling very strong and constant with, while my second bike had quite a different setup that I didn’t like as much. We had no time to change it, so I started qualifying expecting to struggle a bit, although still with the aim of earning a start position on the front two rows. That said, we know that our race pace is good for tomorrow, and we’re happy with that. We’ll try to start well, and then we’ll see where we are at the end of the first lap; from then on we’ll try and manage the race well, with the target of getting on the podium and, if possible, of fighting for the victory.”
DANI PEDROSA | 11th 1’45.519
“This weekend we tried to improve in qualifying, but it didn’t work out, which is a pity because a good starting position is very important at this track. We’ll have to recover, even if it’s always tough to overtake in the first few laps. We have to make a good tyre choice and start well, and then we’ll see what options we have.”
