Over 250 laps later, the Valencia Test comes to a close for the Repsol Honda Team as they prepare to head for Jerez before officially beginning the winter break
The Valencia test drew to a close after two productive days of running in the wake of the final race of the year. Despite some cold mornings, the weather remained dry and sunny across the two days with improvements on the second.
Completing 131 laps over the two days, reigning champion Marc Márquez leaves Valencia pleased with the information gathered ahead of the 2020 season. With a variety of parts and settings tested, Marc ended the post-race test as the fifth fastest rider thanks to a 1’30.556 set on the second day.
The second day of testing brought 79 more laps aboard the RC213V for MotoGP rookie Álex Márquez, this was the most laps completed by a single rider today. Improving his best lap time by over half a second from day one to day two, Álex Márquez heads to Jerez hungry to continue making progress and furthering his understanding of the MotoGP Machine.
A final pre-winter at Jerez (November 25,26) will offer riders and engineers alike a chance to gather the last pieces of information to help further develop the 2020 machine over winter. The Repsol Honda Team will enjoy a brief rest before returning to track with Marc Márquez and Álex Márquez at the Andalusian track.
MARC MÁRQUEZ
“It has been a good test and we have started to understand the 2020 bike, or at least the first version. We tried some things with the engine and the chassis, like always there were some positives and negatives. I did my best time today with the prototype bike, this was a positive. Now in five days we will be back to work in Jerez and I think that this will help us even more to understand the bike. I’m looking forward to it. The goal is to confirm our findings from here and make a further plan.”
ÁLEX MÁRQUEZ
“I’m quite happy with how the test went, lap by lap we are understanding the bike more and more. I did a lot of laps today so physically I am a little tired because I’m still a bit stiff on the bike but this will improve with more laps. We did a lot on used tyres to improve our pace and learn the behaviour more. Of course, we still need to improve more and work on some things, but I am satisfied with what we have done today and in this test. Now we go to Jerez, I’m looking forward to being on the bike again after really enjoying the bike.”
