The penultimate race of the season has kicked off early this morning at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia, with a good performance from Repsol rider Marc Márquez, who came second. The first impressions of the BQR riders Esteve Rabat and Scott Redding were also positive, who finished ninth and twelfth, respectively. Cameron Beaubier, who debuted on the Sepang circuit, finished twenty-fifth.
After a difficult Australian Grand Prix, Marc Márquez is back in action with renewed strength, ready to make the grade from the very first minute in Sepang. As usual, the Repsol rider did not take long to place himself among the fastest in the practice session, and at the end, in his final lap, he finished just two tenths off the best time, clocked up by British rider Bradley Smith. Márquez quickly got to grips with the Sepang track -5,548 metres-, but his usual wariness forces him to approach tomorrow with caution, when the times should drop even further and efforts should be redoubled to tackle any difficulties that could arise.
The top ten also included Esteve Rabat, who continues along the positive line that he has set out over the last few races. Although he was not lucky in the penultimate lap of the race last Sunday in Australia –when he withdrew due to a mechanical problem-, Rabat has not lowered his performance and was very consistent throughout the session. The Repsol rider constantly kept within the first ten, finishing 1.2 seconds off the best time.
His teammate, Scott Redding, also got off to a promising start in Sepang. After discouraging starts in previous Grand Prix races, the Repsol rider finished the practice session without any problems and ended the first hour on the track with the twelfth best time. With a set up that was gradually improved throughout the session, the British rider kept up with the good pace set by the fastest riders in the category, in spite of having some difficulties finding the best line on the wide Malaysian track.
These difficulties were more complicated for Cameron Beaubier, who rode the Sepang track for the first time. The American rider’s first laps helped him to memorise the track and discover the secrets of the longest track in the world championship, where another determining factor is the suffocating heat. After the first hour of practice, Beaubier came in twenty-fifth, a little over four seconds off the time set by Smith.
Marc Márquez, 2’15.095 sec, 21 laps, 117 km. >> Audio
“The first practice went better than I expected. Last year, it was almost impossible to ride on this track, I only completed 16 laps in Friday’s free practice and even so, I was able to set a good pace. We’ve approached this practice well and I want to thank the team for its hard work. Unlike Australia, here I was able to keep up the pace and that’s always good, especially with tomorrow in mind, when we will have to improve some things. The bike is quite well adjusted, but I’m sure that as soon as we start reducing the times tomorrow, some adjustments will start to fail. I’m satisfied with today’s practice.”
Esteve Rabat, 2’16.286 sec, 20 laps, 111 km. >> Audio
“Today has been very positive, because the bike was very fast and I rode well and along the right line. What’s more, I clocked up my best time riding alone. I need to improve various points because I have some problems with the front wheel when I brake. We also need to finish adjusting the gears because in some places development is too short and in others, too long. Now, I only need to decide which tyres are the best, but anyway, it went well, because we are up front and can clearly see the way to go.”
Scott Redding, 2’16.456 sec, 18 laps, 100 km. >> Audio
“We suffered a little at the beginning to adjust the chassis and the engine, as well as the tyres, but little by little, we’ve managed to improve the set up and get a good feeling overall. Up until now, the engine has worked well. I followed some riders and I know that I can improve, so I trust that I can do it tomorrow in both the free practice and classifiers. It took me a while to find the best line, but in the last few laps, when I followed other riders, I saw points where I could improve and I clocked up a decent time. Anyway, tomorrow I’d like to classify in the top eight, so we’ll see how it goes.”
Cameron Beaubier, 2’19.144 sec, 21 laps, 117 km. >> Audio
“This is a very difficult circuit, especially as it’s so incredibly hot here. During the session, I found it difficult to find the best line and although I tried to follow some other riders, I still had problems coming out of the turns. Tomorrow, we’ll have to continue working hard to improve on what we achieved today.”
