2016 World Champion completes opening day of practice at Valencia in second position, with the returning Dani Pedrosa tenth.
The last round of the 2016 season, the Valencia GP, began today at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Cheste with the first two free practice sessions. World Champion Marc Marquez was third in a cold first session, in which the asphalt temperature barely reached 12ºC, and took a step forward in the second run, closing the day in second place with a time of 1:30.710. Repsol Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa, returning to action for the first time since suffering an injury at the Japanese GP, was twelfth in the morning free practice and finished tenth overall, with a time of 1:31.358.
Marc Marquez >> Audio
2nd, 1:30.710 sec, 41 laps, 164 km.
“Today went quite well and I think the overall assessment has to be positive, because it’s important to start well. We focused our work on testing all of the tyres; in the morning we used the soft compound for both the front and rear and did quite a few laps with them. In the afternoon I rode the entire time with the hard front and rear. We did a lot of laps to test the different carcasses of the front tyre, and I think we’ve taken a good step forward. We ended the day happy with the work we had done, and tomorrow we’ll try to continue in the same way, because I think that along with Lorenzo, Rossi and Viñales, we’re all at a very similar level. I’m happy with my pace, but I think tomorrow we can improve it a little more.”
Dani Pedrosa >> Audio
Today was a positive day overall, but it was also difficult because I still lack strength and have some pain. I’m also having trouble with my right leg, as was to be expected. Luckily this circuit has mostly left-hand corners, which is quite a relief. Today we haven’t worked so much on the setup of the bike, and we’ve focused on riding and getting a good feeling. This is the first time I’ve put my body under such demand since my injury, and I’m pretty tired, so now I just have to rest with tomorrow in mind. We’ll see how I feel and try to improve, although we have to go step by step.”
