The first day of practice on the Japanese track of Motegi saw a great performance from Esteve Rabat, who at the end of the free practice early in the morning, Spanish time, was the fourth fastest. The Repsol rider had mentioned before the practice that Motegi is a circuit that he likes, and he showed all of his talents in spite of the difficulties that were present on the track, which was still quite cold and dirty. Rabat was among the fastest from the very start, and he finished with a time of 2’01.372 secs, 6 tenths behind the fastest, Andrea Ianone.
Alongside him in the pits was Scott Redding but he was not able to finish higher than 16th, 2.6 seconds off the lead. The Briton encountered some problems on the suspension of his Aprilia RSA, and he was not able to take corners comfortably. The Repsol rider is however optimistic, as the track conditions will improve as the weekend progresses, and the work done by the mechanics will give him a boost and let him ride with the leading group in this category.
Marc Márquez, on his second visit to the track in Japan, was also very competitive from the beginning, he was even 4th at one point, although he is being affected by the reduction in the number of practice sessions on a Friday before a race, he complains that he does not have enough time to find the right set up. In the end he was 10th, a little over a second off the best time. His teammate, Cameron Beaubier, had the aim of learning about the track today, although he came across more difficulties than he had expected and he even fell on corner 5, where he was going too fast and his front wheel lost its grip.
Tomorrow sees the final day of practice, the riders get another free practice session in the morning and then pass on to qualification in the afternoon which will be held with the threat of rain.
Marc Márquez, 2’01.868 secs, 15 laps, 72 km. >> Audio
“We found the track was quite cold but above all very dirty, so we skidded a lot. Little by little it got cleaner, but even at the end we were sliding around, but not so much. It was a bit too short today, because with only 40 minutes during the whole day, time is very tight. Whatever, it is the same for us all. It was just the first session and we still do not have the right set up, but that is logical but I do think that from now on we can improve a lot for the race. I hope it does not rain tomorrow.”
Esteve Rabat, 2’01.372 secs, 16 laps, 77 km. >> Audio
“Things went very well and the truth is that I did not excpect that. When I went out I began to ride normally, concentrating on my job, and little by little I got better. In the end I was 4th, which is a good way to start the weekend. At the beginning the track was very dirty and cold, because I imagine that it has not been used for some time, and you had to go very carefully. The 125cc riders are those that clean the tarmac, and as the laps went by it got a bit better and we were able to lower the times.”
Scott Redding, 2’03.285 secs, 15 laps, 72 km. >> Audio
“Things did not go too badly. The track was a bit cold, but the conditions are the same for us all. We had some problems with the suspension when turning the bike. Apart from that, the practice did not go too badly, although the position is not as good as it could be. In fact it is a bad one, but as soon as we adjust the suspension I am sure that we will be able to improve tomorrow.”
Cameron Beaubier, 2’04.424 secs, 14 laps, 67 km. >> Audio
“I fell at the start of the circuit – corner 5 – where I did not feel very comfortable. I took it very fast and I lost the front end which skidded and I ended up in the gravel. I am sure that I will do better tomorrow because I still have to get to know the track a bit better, and that is what I was concentrating on today. I like this circuit with its long straights and tight corners.”
