The Repsol Honda Team riders will start from fourth and fifth on the grid for the San Marino Grand Prix after a tight qualifying session.
Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa ended the second day of the San Marino GP weekend in fourth and fifth place, respectively. With much more favourable weather than the previous day on the track offered, the Repsol Honda duo were able to set about working on the Honda set up under sunshine ahead of tomorrow’s race. In a very close qualifying session, both have finished less than two tenths behind polesitter Jorge Lorenzo.
In the two free practice sessions today, both Marquez and Pedrosa were able to work with dry tarmac, focusing on finding the best pace and setup for tomorrow. They completed 33 and 35 laps, respectively, before facing off against the clock in the qualifying session. Marquez was the first to take the lead in the times, provisionally setting himself at the front of the pack. During his second outing after donning new tyres, he was relegated to fourth place, just ahead of Dani Pedrosa and behind a first row comprised of Jorge Lorenzo, Andrea Iannone and Valentino Rossi.
The MotoGP race, beginning Sunday morning at 14:00 CEST, will be the first time since last year in the Catalan GP in which Marc Marquez does not start from the front row.
Marc Marquez >> Audio
4th – 1:33.360, 42 laps, 177 km
“This is the first time this season that I’ve been off the front row, maybe because we haven’t yet found the best setup for this circuit. However, we still have the warmup tomorrow in which to try things out and improve. Yesterday’s practice sessions were both wet, so that is why today we found it a little difficult to find the optimal setup. Nevertheless, I am happy because I felt fairly comfortable on the bike –which is important for the race– but we will have to fight hard to finish on the podium.”
Dani Pedrosa >> Audio
5th – 1:33.418, 43 laps, 182 km
“I had a very good feeling today in Misano, although this isn’t reflected by my position on the grid for tomorrow. The times today have been very close between everyone, but tomorrow in the end we start from the second row. I’ll have to get a very good start and push on the opening laps. It will also be important to make the right choice with the front tyre, because that will be the key to the race. We will have to fight to the maximum, because this is a very long race.”
