The second day of testing at Phillip Island again got off to a wet start, but although varied conditions affected the action until around lunchtime, the afternoon finally featured enough dry, sunny weather (with a maximum air temperature of 23° C and track temperature of 45° C) that the riders were able to carry out a decent amount of work.
Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa made the most of the time available, completing 79 and 55 laps, respectively, and both felt they made a positive step in the management of the new unified software compared with the Sepang test.
Marc took to the track on slick tyres at around 11 a.m. and immediately found a good pace while he and his technicians focused on the settings of his RC213V. He remained in the upper part of the timesheets throughout the day, steadily improving his rhythm and finishing a close second, with a best time of 1’29.292 that came on lap 78.
Dani was one of ten riders who were able to break the 1’30 barrier today. He posted a 1’29.917 time on lap 38 and was pushing hard to further improve his pace when he crashed in turn 4 with no consequences. He re-joined the action approximately 40 minutes later.
Testing will end tomorrow.
Marc Marquez >> Audio
2nd – 1:29.292, 79 laps, 351 km
“Today we were able to ride in the dry for the entire day, and I think we can draw good conclusions from the testing we did – because it seems that here we have found a base setup that can work well. It’s true that this is a special track, in which you have to be careful about what you test because it might confuse you at other circuits, but I am happy with how the day went overall. We’ll see if we can continue improving tomorrow, because I still think we can make a lot of progress with the balance of the bike; I still don’t feel fully comfortable with it. The team, Honda and I are pushing our hardest and we are getting closer ever day.”
Dani Pedrosa >> Audio
8th – 1:29.917, 55 laps, 245 km
“Today I had a crash at Turn 4, but luckily I’m fine. I was setting good times and improving on that run, but when I was trying to brake a little harder, I lost the front and crashed. I changed bikes to continue tyre testing and, although it had a different setup, I think the positive thing is that we gathered data that will be useful for our engineers in terms of chassis and engine information. We still don’t have a clear setup, but we understand many aspects of the behaviour of the bike that will help us find a good base for every circuit. Despite the gap on the timesheets, it’s been a positive day, because we know that this is a track where I struggle a bit compared with others and we have worked hard, which has allowed us to obtain a lot of data.”
