The scheduled second test day at the Jerez circuit went ahead with relative normality, barely interrupted by the occasional showers that fell on the Andalusian track throughout the day. Making the most of the intervals when the track was dry, Marc Márquez clocked up the best time of the day, with a time of 1 minute, 47 seconds and 473 milliseconds.
The Repsol rider, who went out to run in the engine on wet tyres, was able to use dry tyres for the rest of the day and continue working on adapting and fine tuning the set-up configured in previous tests. At the beginning of the day, on a dirty and cold track, he rode with a soft suspension set-up. However, once the grip improved, his team adjusted the set-up to a harder suspension and the Repsol rider was able to set a faster pace.
Márquez did longer stints than in Valencia -of six laps- and after riding with precaution at the beginning when track was still wet, he quickly upped the pace, regularly riding at 1 minute and 48 seconds. Tomorrow, if the weather continues to improve, the Repsol rider and his team plan to continue working on improving the pace and even to try to hold a race simulation.
Marc Márquez, 1’47.473 sec, 48 laps, 213 KM.
“The track was a bit slippery to start with, especially whenever a shower fell, but when it dried out, the grip was quite good and we rode well. We already had some ideas for the set-up from the tests that we did here at the end of last season and from what we tested in Valencia, and I quickly felt comfortable. We’ve done a good job and even managed to clock up a good time, my personal best at this circuit. We haven’t had any falls either and that’s important because with the puddles it was easy to have a scare”.
