The first day of practice at the Sachsenring ended with a very fast Marc Márquez in 2nd position on the leaderboard. It was not a typical session because after 25 minutes a heavy summer rainstorm interrupted all track activity for 15 minutes. Just before that Scott Redding fell and the Briton could not improve on his 18th place, three tenths behind his teammate Esteve Rabat, 14th. Cameron Beaubier finished in 26th position.
After a two week break Márquez was able to try out some improvements on the engine of his KTM 125 FRR and meant that he was able to keep up with the fastest riders today. The Repsol rider was very fast in the twistier zone – the first half of the lap – and took advantage of his bike`s speed in the faster zone to finish with a lap time of 1 minute 29,265 seconds, 6 tenths behind the fastest rider. However he is aware that he will have to work more on the set up for the fast corners where he had most difficulties. On the wet track Márquez was once again up with the fastest riders, but at the end of the session his times would have placed him 4th in a hypothetical classification.
His teammate Cameron Beaubier did not have a good start to the German GP and ended the free session with a time of 1’31.543 secs. In the dry the American was able to get used to the demands of the track but the froint end of his bike was bouncing around a lot and so he did not have a lot of confidence when taking corners. After the rain he only did 3 laps because a stone got into the engine and the bike stopped, and so he had to finish his work before the end of the session.
Esteve Rabat was not able to draw any conclusions in the pits, although he gradually improved his times but he was only able to warm the engine up and do a few laps before the rain fell. At that moment he was 14th and had felt comfortable on his Aprilia RSA. But problems with the carburation when he went back out onto the wet track did not allow him to do many more laps. After two he entered the pits for a repair job and then he only had time for two more.
As for his teammate Scott Redding, he finished in a disappointing 16th position. On the dry track Redding had started to warm up the engine and get used to the circuit but when he mounted new tyres he fell on corner 12, a fast right-hander before the slope downhill. Neither he nor the bike were affected and the repair was done when it was raining and nobody was out on the track but even so there were just 10 minutes left when he went back out. However his mechanics saw that the bike was revving too much and he had wait in the pits again. In the end he only had time to do 3 laps, insufficient to draw any conclusions.
Marc Márquez, 1’29.594 secs, 20 laps, 73 km. >> Audio
“Things were going well in the dry. KTM has brought some improvements for the engine and you could notice them, although we still have to compare ourselves with the rest of the riders as I was not able to ride against anybody. In any case the result is not a good reference because we were only out for 25 minutes and I am sure that tomorrow the times will be much better.
The important thing is that the sensations from the bike were good and the set up we have is the right one. After the rain it was more difficult because he bike was sliding around a lot. But once I had got some confidence I felt quite comfortable. We still have to improve but I am pleased.”
Esteve Rabat, 1’30.399 secs, 17 laps, 62 km. >> Audio
“Firstly I have to say that I am very motivated because I am better prepared than for any other race this season. At the beginning we just wanted to warm the engine up, improve little by little, and then put new tyres on. What we did on the dry track is not very significant because we did not have enough time to force the pace. After that we changed the carburation for the wet conditions and we had a problem that kept us in the pits for quite some time. Anyway I had some good sensations, and both the team and myself are very motivated, and we are dying to put in a good performance.”
Scott Redding, 1’30.612 sec, 10 laps, 37 km. >> Audio
“I think we only did two fast laps in the whole session. Things did not go badly but obviously we need to do a lot more work. I was not getting very good sensations but the track was very dirty and the times are not very significant. When I put new tyres on I lost the front end on a fast right-hander before the downhill slope. Luckily the bike was not damaged and we were able to repair it when it was raining, but when we were about to go back out we found that the accelerator stayed open. After repairing that I was only able to do two laps on the wet track and I could not go fast. If it rains tomorrow I think that the sensations from the bike will be good, but we are hoping that it will be a dry day.”
Cameron Beaubier, 1’31.543 sec, 14 laps, 51 km. >> Audio
“I could not do many laps today because at the beginning, on the dry track, I had some problems with the front wheel. It was bouncing around a lot when I began to take the corners. I stopped to repair the bike but when I went back out it began to rain.
I am a little disappointed with not having been able to ride more. And then when we got the bike out in the wet the bike stopped, an engine problem, so I can`t say much more.”
