The Repsol Honda Team rider crashes on his last lap and finishes the day fourteenth. Joan Mir sets the twelfth fastest time on the first day of the Japanese Grand Prix.
The Mobility Resort in Motegi hosted the first day of on-track activity for the Japanese Grand Prix under clear skies and with no threat of rain.
During the morning session, Marc Márquez worked on setting up his Honda RC213V to face the afternoon runout, a session that decides who goes directly into Q2 tomorrow. In practice, the Repsol Honda Team rider set good times, but first a cancelled lap due to a yellow flag, then a crash of his own at the end of the session, caused him to not be able to be among the Top 10.
With a best time of 1:44.574, Márquez finished fourteenth and will have to go through Q1.
Joan Mir started the day well and was the fifth fastest rider in the morning practice session. In the afternoon, the Repsol Honda Team rider was not able to improve his time of 1:44.428 and concluded the session in twelfth position.
Mir was 0.167s outside the Top 10, meaning he will also compete in Q1 on Saturday.
Saturday’s 12-lap sprint race will take place at 14h (CEST)
MARC MÁRQUEZ – 14th 1’44.574
“Today was a day where there was the possibility to go straight to Q2, I had the speed but there were a few mistakes. On the first tyre I made a mistake on the last corner and with the second tyre where were yellow flags. I didn’t see the yellow flag so didn’t know my lap was cancelled, then I was pushing to improve on my lap time again and I lost the front at Turn 1. Aside from this it wasn’t too bad a day, the feeling was positive and the pace is not looking too bad. Tomorrow we will keep the bike more or less the same and focus more on my riding style and the lines we are using.”
JOAN MIR – 12th 1’44.428
“The crash we had this morning was not a big one but it complicated things a little bit. We were trying a few things with the bike I crashed on. In the afternoon we started with the bike we had in India, but I spent some of the session trying the bikes instead of working hard on a specific setup. I think we lost a bit here and this is why we aren’t in Q2 but still we were close. I think we need to work on improving the braking a little bit in order to keep improving tomorrow. The objective for tomorrow is to improve this and to challenge for Q2, then we will see what’s possible.”
