Alex Marquez takes sixth fastest time of the day despite a small crash. Rins places eighth, just 4 tenths off the top. Maria Herrera concludes day twenty-ninth.
The Catalan Grand Prix started today at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, with the first day of practice. After two sessions, Alex Marquez ended the day in sixth place, unaffected by a small crash in the first runout. Teammate Alex Rins was eighth, 0.429s off fastest rider Niklas Ajo. On her second appearance of the season, Maria Herrera concluded the opening day in twenty-ninth place.
Making the most of improvements tested last week at Mugello, Rins and Marquez quickly adapted to the Barcelona track. Midway through the opening session, Marquez had a small crash at Turn 5 –the slowest on the circuit– but continued as normal afterwards. He set a best time of 1’52.374 which placed him fifth. Marquez dropped his time by 0.038s in the second session, in which he finished sixth.
On the other side of the box, Rins was fourth in the morning session with a time of 1’52.359. He failed to lower that time in the second session, missing out by 0.053s. He was eighth overall. Maria Herrera was twenty-ninth, with the Spaniard improving by more than 3 tenths from morning to afternoon as she stopped the clock in 1’54.127.
Tomorrow will see the last free practice session, followed by qualifying at 12:35pm local time.
Alex Rins >> Audio
8th, 1:52.359, 35 laps, 165 km
“Today went pretty well; I think we have a very good pace. It would have been good to have completed a fast lap but it is hard when riding alone –I think it’s because it was very hot, which makes everything harder. We found our setup quickly, so I think we can do well in qualifying tomorrow”.
Alex Marquez >> Audio
6th, 1:52.336, 32 laps, 151 km
“The heat is the most important factor that we have at the Grand Prix of Catalunya and it is making it one of the hardest days yet this season. In spite of the high temperatures today, I think it has been a positive day for me because I improved gradually. This morning I suffered a harmless crash and it is important also that I didn’t lose confidence. This afternoon I did not quite get fully comfortable and we made a small modification to the bubble that I think went pretty well. For practice and qualifying tomorrow, I think it is important to be at the front, because here –as at Mugello– slipstreaming can help times a lot. We will try to find space in order to place high up on the grid”.
Maria Herrera >> Audio
29th, 1:54.127, 35 laps, 165 km
“In the first practice today we tried to recover the feeling from the test we did at this circuit two weeks ago, prior to the FIM CEV Repsol round. things didn’t go as well, because I didn’t feel the same confidence with the front when braking. I concentrated on my lines but I couldn’t get comfortable with the bike. In the second session I felt better, but not as good as at other times. Tomorrow we will try to continue to improve.”
