Repsol Moto3 riders sixth and ninth on first combined timesheet of 2014, following two free practice sessions.
The floodlights at the Losail Circuit in Qatar were on for the official start to the Moto3 World Championship on Thursday night, as the lower cylinder class was once again the first out on track. The Moto3 field had two practice sessions, in which Alex Marquez finished sixth –0.647 off top rider Romano Fenati. Alex Rins, ninth, was 0.918 off the Italian.
Emilio Alzamora’s proteges had their first runout at Qatar with the Honda NSF250RW. After a total of 32 laps between the two sessions, Marquez improved by more than 1 second to complete his day in sixth place, with a best time of 2’06.647. On the other side of the garage, Alex Rins completed 29 laps, with a final best of 2’07.086.
Tomorrow will see a third 40-minute session in which to set up the bikes, before qualifying on Saturday to decide the grid for the first race of the year. The race itself takes place on Sunday at 7pm local time.
Alex Rins >> Audio
2:07.086, 29 laps, 156 km
“I am very satisfied with the work we have done today, and we’ve taken a big step forward compared to the last test at Jerez. I’ve adapted pretty well to this circuit and perhaps I lacked a good hot lap, but I think the day has been good overall. Tomorrow we shall have a good setup ready to go and our pace is good. I enjoy today, focusing on the bike. At Jerez I went out on track a little nervous and we had to do many tests every day, whereas today I was able to focus on riding and enjoying myself.”
Alex Marquez >> Audio
2:06.647, 32 laps, 172 km
“I’m pretty happy. From the first moment on I felt very comfortable with the bike and I have to thank the team for that; I think the base we have is good. We must work to keep on improving, because in some things I do not feel entirely comfortable, but that is also positive as it means we have room for improvement. Tomorrow we will have to finish putting everything in place to have a good qualifying session. We saw at Jerez that the Honda engine is fast and here we can confirm that it goes well. Today we focused basically on learning more about the track, because I had only been here once before. I focused on finding the fastest line. That has been the key to having a good day today.”
