World Championship leader to take off from middle of the front row for Japanese Grand Prix, after tight qualifying session.
The second day of practice at Motegi brought Pol Espargaró and Marc Márquez tigether once again at the head of the Moto2 grid. The Repsol rider will start from just behind his compatriot and rival, after clocking a fastest lap just 0.137 slower than Espargaró in qualifying.
Both riders had led the way in the third Free Practice session, with the positioning at the end the same as in qualifying. After 19 laps, Márquez had stopped the clock in 1’51.792, but Espargaró’s last lap took him six tenths quicker than the Repsol rider with a 1’51.192.
Márquez made a notable improvement in performance in qualifying, and on his final run he took a lap of 1’51.023. He was just 0.137 off Espargaró’s time and they will set off from first and second, respectively, on tomorrow’s grid.
Marc Márquez >> Audio
FP3 – 1:51.792, 19 laps, 91 km.
QP – 1:51.023, 19 laps, 91 km.
“We had a good qualifying session. We gave 100% and have a good feeling with the bike. We aren’t completely happy, because we can improve our setting still —especially under braking. I am sliding out too much and can’t get the bike fully stable. There is still room for improvement and we will work on these missing details in tomorrow’s warmup. It looks like the Kalex riders are very strong at Motegi, but tomorrow will be another story. We will see what our rivals do, how we perform and what the situation is.”
