Álex Márquez and Stefan Bradl finish the first day of the Czech Grand Prix of 16th and 22nd, respectively
The Spanish rider used the day’s two Free Practice sessions to continue adapting to a new track for him with his Repsol Honda RC213V, having never ridden there with a premier class bike. The MotoGP rookie closed the first day by setting a best time of 1:57.688, 1.186 off the top time.
Riding in place of the injured Marc Márquez, substitute rider Bradl put in his first kilometres with the Honda machine after many months of inactivity. He improved on his morning time in FP2, ending Friday with a top lap of 1:58.424.
ÁLEX MÁRQUEZ – 16th 1’57.688
“Nice to be back out on the bike and at a circuit I like a lot. It was a good first day aside from the small issue in Free Practice 2, but honestly it did not hurt us too much. The grip was not perfect and there were a lot of crashes, especially in the lower classes so hopefully this improves for tomorrow. I felt really good today, but I still need to work on my one lap pace, the feeling for tomorrow is good and we are building out rhythm. Let’s see what the circuit is like and what is possible.”
STEFAN BRADL – 22nd 1’58.424
“Today was about getting the feeling again. No matter how long you have been riding for, when you come back to a MotoGP bike after a break and you accelerate down the straight, the power always seems surprising. It has been six months since I was on this bike, so it took some time to adjust the mind to these speeds and managing everything, this is quite normal. But we are going well, and we are making improvements with each lap. I’m ready for tomorrow and looking forward to it after a positive first day – so far so good.”
