Repsol Honda Team riders will start from third and fourth place at the Dutch TT, after a tight qualifying session.
The second day of practice at the “Cathedral of Motorcycle Racing” saw the starting grid for the eighth round of the season decided. After contesting pole position in qualifying, Marc Marquez eventually placed third, followed by Dani Pedrosa. Both trail Valentino Rossi, who took pole for the Dutch TT.
Sixth and seventh, respectively, in the third Free Practice session, Marquez and Pedrosa were first and fourth in the final runout before qualifying. The reigning World Champion took the initiative from the start in the grid-defining session, topping the timesheet with his first attempt. Although he again improved with his second tire, his final lap of 1:32.886 was bested Rossi and Aleix Espargaro. Marquez was one place ahead of Pedrosa, who set a time of 1:32.987 for fourth position.
Marquez will close the first row and Pedrosa will lead the second line when the race starts on Saturday at 2pm.
Marc Marquez >> Audio
3rd – 1:32.886, 39 laps, 177 km
“Every rider was on the limit in qualifying. I’m happy, because we knew this circuit was going to be tough for us, but still we are close to Valentino and Jorge, who are very fast and smooth here. We are finding things a little tougher as we are still missing a tenth or half a tenth, but we will try to be as close as possible to them tomorrow and see what happens. I think it will be difficult, especially against Valentino.”
Dani Pedrosa >> Audio
4th – 1:32.987, 41 laps, 186 km
“Today was useful for confirming the setup of the bike as we were fortunate to be able to have dry track time again for most of the day. In the qualifying session it was amazing how close the times were and I’m happy to have qualified a bit better than at the last Grand Prix in Catalunya. We’ll try to have a good start tomorrow and hope we can do well and have a good race!”
