Fresh from an important podium finish, Championship leader Marc Márquez and teammate Dani Pedrosa were back on track in Brno for a one-day test, held in sunny and fair weather conditions that were cooler than yesterday’s race, with air and ground temperatures of 25° and 34° C, respectively.
The Repsol Honda men worked on HRC’s intense programme which included testing several new updates and which focused on improving the bike’s setup.
Marc was fastest of the day with his time of 1’55.209” on lap 67 of 77, while Dani finished the day third with a time of 1’55.399” on lap 46 of 52.
MARC MÁRQUEZ 1st | 1’55.209
“Today was positive and I’m very happy because we did a lot of laps with a good feeling since the start of the test. We started early this morning and we went on until the evening with a new thing to try in every run. It’s tough when you have such a busy schedule, but Honda is working hard and that’s great motivation for a rider; we did a great job in testing everything that they brought here to Brno. Michelin is also working hard towards the future and brought a new front tyre here to test. Honestly it didn’t work as we were hoping for but it’s very good for us to see how much effort they give in trying to always improve, and surely today they gathered some useful information. As usual, towards the end of the day we put all of the best things together and we’ve done a good lap time. The fastest lap wasn’t the main target though, as it was more important to work for the future. In the end we’ve found several positive things and we’ll use something in the next race. I’m happy with the direction we’re taking and with the work we’re doing.”
DANI PEDROSA 3th | 1’55.399
“Today we worked hard trying to improve on the feeling we had in yesterday’s race and actually we did have a better feeling. The great change today was the track conditions, which were very good. The weather was perfect and the asphalt offered very good grip with a lot of rubber on track after an entire race weekend. We tried different electronics and suspension setup options and everything I tried was an improvement, so I could be faster and more consistent. It’s difficult to understand how much of this is a result of the track conditions and if it will be helpful on other tracks, so we’ll have to wait and see in Austria in few days”.
