Repsol Honda riders will this weekend contest the first of four Grands Prix held in Spain this season. Jerez accompanies Catalonia, Aragon and Valencia on the 2017 calendar.
Dani Pedrosa marked his debut in the premier class at Jerez in 2006, taking second in the race. He has 9 further podiums at the Spanish track from his 10 visits as a MotoGP rider.
Marc Márquez has always finished on the podium when he has competed at the Andalusian circuit in MotoGP, including a victory in 2014.
Since becoming teammates in 2013, Pedrosa and Márquez have two double podium finishes at Jerez: One in 2013 with Pedrosa first and Márquez second; and another in 2014, with Márquez first and Pedrosa third.
Marc Márquez
“I’m happy the next round is back in Spain after three flyaway GPs, because racing at home and in front of my fan club is always special. Of course our win in Austin gave the whole team more confidence and motivation to keep up the hard work and to try to understand how to further improve our bike’s setup, although Jerez is one of the most difficult and tricky circuits from that point of view. It’s kind of an ‘old school’ track: very short, very narrow, with heavy acceleration points and strong braking areas. You have to make the bike turn well but you also need good stability under braking, because that’s where you can get good lap times. It’s a circuit where our opponents are always very fast, but anyway, I think we’ll be able to do well if we work well starting on Friday morning.”
Dani Pedrosa
“Jerez is a track that I like a lot. It has a bit of everything: tight corners, fast corners, changes of direction, some ‘wheelie areas.’ One of my best memories there is when I made my debut in MotoGP (2006) and I finished on the podium. I hope to keep the momentum from Austin and to continue the progress, improving our bike setup more, especially in maintaining a fast rhythm and faster lap time. Now we know more about the bike, what we need to improve, and what changes we have to make on the setup, so we definitely look forward to taking another step in Jerez. My fan club will be there and we want to have another good weekend in front of them and all our fans!”
