The Repsol Honda team returns to work in Qatar Test
The opening day of running allowed Marc Márquez and Álex Márquez to confirm what they and their respective teams had found in Sepang
With the first race of the 2020 MotoGP World Championship just over a week again, the Repsol Honda Team arrive at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar for the final official MotoGP Test of the pre-season.
It was a rapid start to testing for the reigning MotoGP World Champion, the first rider to drop into the 1’54s. As the track condition improved throughout the course of the evening, Marc was able to continue gathering more data on the 2020 Honda RC213V for HRC engineers. Ending the ‘day’ with a best time of 1’54.823 left Marc as the 6th fastest rider and as just one of seven riders below the 1’55 barrier.
Although feeling under the weather, Álex diligently went about learning the Losail Circuit aboard his Honda RC213V. Completing a total of 45 laps, Álex was able to improve his time over the course of running. The MotoGP rookie is now aiming for a restful night to be ready for running tomorrow.
The penultimate day of pre-season testing begins on Sunday, February 23 at 13:00 Local Time.
MARC MÁRQUEZ
“Today we started well but I am struggling a bit more than in Malaysia with my shoulder. In the long corners here, especially the long right handers, I feel my shoulder more. I was able to ride how I needed to but we kept calm and did what we needed to. As always, Qatar is not an easy circuit for us and we’re aiming to be as strong as possible. It’s just the first day of testing so I am not looking at the timing screens and instead I’m looking at our garage and working how we need to.”
ÁLEX MÁRQUEZ
“Unfortunately I arrived in Qatar and I have been feeling a little sick. It’s nothing serious but I do not have my full power and in MotoGP you need to be at your best. Even like this we were able to get a good amount of work done and we started to work more with the setup of the bike. I had a crash today; this is how you find the limit as a rookie so I’m not focusing on it. We have tomorrow to work again so we are looking forward to that and hopefully working to our maximum.”
