Marc Márquez and Joan Mir worked on setting up their bikes during the first day of the Catalan Grand Prix, finishing in 19th and 22nd position, respectively.
The Repsol Honda team completed the first day at the track near the town of Montmeló under clear skies and light winds.
Marc Márquez continues working non-stop to improve the performance of the Honda RC213V. In the morning, the Repsol Honda team rider suffered a small crash and, in the afternoon, he was not able to go directly into Q2. Closing the day with a best time of 1’40.249, he was 19th fastest on Friday.
Following the same dynamic, Joan Mir also had difficulties in setting a fast time. During the day’s two free practice sessions, the Repsol Honda Team rider focused on setup and adaptation to the bike, finishing 22nd with a best time of 1’41.013.
Both riders will have to compete in Q1 and qualify among the two fastest, if they want to make it into the session that will decide the grid for both the sprint race and Sunday’s GP.
MARC MÁRQUEZ – 19th 1’40.249
“Today was about focusing on ourselves, I didn’t feel bad on the bike. In the morning I made the same mistake as in Austria when I was comparing the new parts, especially with aerodynamics the bike changes a lot. In the afternoon we worked on our base and our pace, I feel good but we are far from the top. Tomorrow the objective is to achieve our best and keep working.”
JOAN MIR – 22nd 1’41.013
“We were expecting it to be difficult this weekend because Montmeló is a circuit that’s always very critical for grip, the corners are very long and you need to manage the spin with the throttle. This year, this is the area we have been working on the most so we have to keep working on that here as well. I spent the day working on the setup of the bike. The goal for tomorrow is to improve the feeling so we can push more.”
