New 2019 MotoGP World Champion shows good pace in first two Free Practice sessions, with Jorge Lorenzo experiencing Motegi for the first time with a Honda
Marc Márquez was fourth in FP1 and third in FP2, using the two sessions to try out tyres. He improved by almost a second from morning to afternoon.
Jorge Lorenzo continued with setup work and adapting to his Honda bike, placing 19th in the first session and 17th in the second. He made an improvement ot 7 tenths in the afternoon.
The Saturday action is set to be affected by heavy rain at Twin Ring Motegi.
Marc Márquez | 3rd 1’45.100
“It’s nice to be on the bike again after Thailand! Today was not the best day for us because we missed a few things and it wasn’t our best FP2 of the year but still we are in a good position and close. At the moment we’re focusing on the race weekend and understanding a couple of ideas we have had with the geometry. We still need to understand the tyres a bit more so hopefully the weather will be OK tomorrow.”
Jorge Lorenzo | 17th 1’46.661
“Today was a positive day, maybe my best practice since I returned from injury. We changed something on the bike from earlier in the season and we had a good day. I improved my feeling and my speed; it wasn’t a full second improvement, but I felt better and could see the improvements on track. Our final position isn’t perfect because I couldn’t take the most from a new tyre like other riders but our pace is closer to the front.”
