The Repsol Honda Team rider finishes the first day of the San Marino Grand Prix sixth fastest, while Joan Mir is 21st.
The MotoGP riders enjoyed a sunny first day at the Misano Circuit Marco Simoncelli, in which the first two practice sessions for the San Marino Grand Prix were held.
On Friday, Marc Márquez made progress at the Italian track. The Repsol Honda Team rider was able to employ a solid strategy at the end of practice and went straight through to Q2, thanks to his 1:31.217 lap.
Márquez ended the day sixth and will attempt to be on one of the front rows of the grid.
Joan Mir also improved in the afternoon, despite continuing to have difficulties with his Honda RC213V. The Repsol Honda Team rider set a best time of 1:32.141, situating him 21st overall and putting him into Q1.
MARC MÁRQUEZ – 6th 1’31.217
“Ultimately today was a positive day because we achieved our target for the weekend: qualifying in the top 12. I need to keep on working on my feeling with the bike, it’s still not quite there but we were able to do the lap time. It was a calm day because at the start I was not getting the feedback from the bike, the tyres, the track that I wanted but we worked to improve it. In the last part of the afternoon session, I really pushed for a time and we were able to make a step, especially with used tyres. I then got a good lap behind Dani – he was super-fast. Tomorrow is another day.”
JOAN MIR – 21st 1’32.141
“The day started a bit more difficult than what we thought. I started today with the base from Montmelo and I was struggling with turning but we kept working and the feeling improved. We made a big step and I think I had a 31.7 in me if we were able to put a whole lap together without yellow flags etc. Then if you can catch another rider for the slipstream, you gain even more time and are able to challenge for the top ten. Our situation is better than what the results show and overall we take it as a positive day because we understood a lot.”
