Alex Rins and Alex Marquez will take off from front and third row, respectively, at San Marino GP. Duo will remain teammates in 2014.
The second day of practice for the San Marino Grand Prix saw the grid positions for the race decided, with Alex Rins qualifying second and Alex Marquez ninth. Rins was once again involved in the fight for pole and headed the standings on various occasions in the session, before finally coming up short to Folger by 61 milliseconds.
Marquez was still smarting from a heavy crash suffered yesterday, which left him with light damage to his right thumb. That meant that he was unable to fight for the top spots during qualifying. An additional light crash at the start of the qualifying session this afternoon created further difficulties, but Marquez got back on track and clinched ninth –on the third row– with a time 1.246s off that of Folger.
This weekend, both riders confirmed their continuation with their current team for the 2014 season. Alex Rins and Alex Marquez extend a partnership that stretches back to the CEV Spanish Championship and lower classes under the guidance of Emilio Alzamora. The duo will remain in Moto3, where they will aim for further success next season.
Alex Rins >> Audio
FP3 – 1:42.917, 18 laps, 76 km.
QP – 1:42.768, 18 laps, 76 km.
“The qualifying session today was really positive. We were alone for the entire session, without getting behind anyone and that was really important. It was a little difficult to make a good time without any slipstreaming because there was some wind. If tomorrow we aren’t delayed by anyone in front of us, we may be able to reduce the lead group of riders more than in other races. Although today Luis [Salom] didn’t go so well, I’m sure tomorrow he will be looking to win. We stayed with the setup we found in FP1 until now, but tomorrow we’ll look to refine some details before the race. I am very happy for my renewal with the Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 for one more season. They are very professional are really helping me grow as a rider and together we are having success. I am glad to continue another year together.”
Alex Marquez >> Audio
FP3 – 1:43.886, 15 laps, 63 km.
QP – 1:43.953, 16 laps, 68 km.
“The qualifying session today was a little difficult. On the third lap I had a crash that paused the work we wanted to do today. I’m still not too good with the bike, because I just do not have the right feeling with it yet. In the race tomorrow it will be difficult to run with the lead group, because they are one step ahead. We’ll use the warm-up to try to improve the set-up of the bike and pick up the pace, because we’ve had two crashes this weekend that made me lose a little confidence. I need a lot of laps before the race. The positive is that we renewed with the Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 for 2014 and I’m very happy about that. During this season we took an important step forward, we all have done a good job and I had my first podium. I think this is the best team for me to progress next year.”
