Repsol Honda Team riders conclude opening practice sessions at Assen with Marquez in third place, just one tenth off the pacesetter, and Pedrosa a further half-second behind in eleventh.
The historic Assen circuit hosted the first day of practice for the Dutch TT this Friday, amidst unfavourable weather conditions. Fine rain affected the first practice session, in which Repsol Honda team riders Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa placed eleventh and thirteenth, respectively. In the second free practice, on dry asphalt, both riders improved their times. Marquez went third with a time of 1:33.724, just 0.133s off Friday’s fastest man, Andrea Iannone. Pedrosa ended the day with a best lap of 1:34.204, giving him eleventh place on the combined timesheets.
Marc Marquez >> Audio
3rd, 1:33.724 sec, 38 laps, 173 km.
“In the first free-practice session, we found things a little demanding and I wasn’t able to ride as comfortably as usual, but we remained very focused and worked hard to look for a solution for the afternoon. So, the important thing from today is that the changes we made worked well in the second session, and I was able to set a good pace. We were amongst the top riders throughout the session, but we were also testing a lot of things that I think will help us tomorrow. Here, the track conditions change every time you go out, so we’ll work to try to continue improving, as the times are always very close.”
Dani Pedrosa >> Audio
11th, 1:34.206 sec, 38 laps, 173 km.
“It’s been a very challenging first day because we had some difficulties with stability during both practice sessions. So far, we’ve failed to improve with the changes of tyres and setup that we tried. With such changeable weather, we didn’t want to take the risk of trying too many things, and it was a shame to have these difficulties on a day like today, with everybody’s lap times so tight. Nevertheless, we’ll stay positive; tomorrow we’ll try to take a step forward and get into the top 10 in the last free-practice session in order to gain confidence ahead of qualifying.”
