Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa have completed the first practice session of the 2014 season.
Dani, who struggled with grip in this first session, was anyway the fastest factory rider – with the satellite teams enjoying a clear advantage after testing here two weeks ago. He finished the 45 minute session in 6th place with a time of 1’56.332 recorded on lap 13 of 16.
2013 World Champion, Marc, who climbed back aboard his RC213V for the first time in 6 weeks after breaking his leg, chose not to have any painkillers and managed an impressive 15 laps. He finished 11th for the night with a time of 1’56.682 on lap 13.
The riders will be back on track tomorrow evening at 18h00 local time.
TEAM QUOTES
Dani Pedrosa - 6th - 1'56.332
"We had a few problems today with grip, which is something that some of the riders who rode here at the test two weeks ago had commented about before. There isn’t much grip on the track and that means we have to try to get the most out of the bike under these circumstances. We’ll see if the track improves with a little more rubber laid down, giving us more traction. Today we just didn’t really have any, even though the track was in good condition. We still hope to improve session-by-session”
Marc Marquez - 11th - 1'56.682
"I am fairly happy with how the first session went, because I haven't been on the bike in a while. I didn’t think my foot would bother me so much - especially on the right hand corners - although at the end of the session I felt better and this gives me hope of improving tomorrow. We are going to try to follow the same working strategy as today. In terms of the times, we aren't too far off Jorge, Valentino and Dani - and it's normal that the riders who were here for the test a fortnight ago are fast right from the get-go”
PRACTICE RESULTS
Pos. Rider Num. Nation Team Constructor Time/Gap
1 - Aleix Espargaro - 41 - ESP - NGM Mobile Forward Racing - YAMAHA - 1'55.201
2 - Alvaro Bautista - 19 - ESP - Go & Fun Honda Gresini - HONDA - 1'55.667
3 - Bradley Smith - 38 - GBR - Monster Yamaha Tech 3 - YAMAHA - 1'55.816
4 - Andrea Iannone - 29 - ITA - Pramac Racing - DUCATI - 1'55.996
5 - Pol Espargaro - 44 - ESP - Monster Yamaha Tech 3 - YAMAHA - 1'56.020
6 - Dani Pedrosa - 26 - ESP - Repsol Honda Team - HONDA - 1'56.332
7 - Valentino Rossi - 46 - ITA - Yamaha Factory - YAMAHA - 1'56.542
8 - Colin Edwards - 5 - USA - NGM Mobile Forward Racing - YAMAHA - 1'56.626
9 - Jorge Lorenzo - 99 - ESP - Yamaha Factory Racing - YAMAHA - 1'56.668
10 - Nicky Hayden - 69 - USA - Drive M7 Aspar - HONDA - 1'56.670
11 - Marc Marquez - 93 - ESP - Repsol Honda Team - HONDA - 1'56.682
12 - Stefan Bradl - 6 - GER - LCR Honda MotoGP - HONDA - 1'56.726
13 - Cal Crutchlow - 35 - GBR - Ducati Team - DUCATI - 1'57.046
14 - Andrea Dovizioso - 4 - ITA - Ducati Team - DUCATI - 1'57.100
15 - Yonny Hernandez - 68 - COL - Pramac Racing - DUCATI - 1'57.623
16 - Karel Abraham - 17 - CZE - Cardion AB Motoracing - HONDA - 1'57.779
17 - Hiroshi Aoyama - 7 - JPN - Drive M7 Aspar - HONDA - 1'58.182
18 - Hector Barbera - 8 - ESP - Avintia Racing MotoGP - FTR-KAWASAKI - 1'58.394
19 - Scott Redding - 45 - GBR - Go & Fun Honda Gresini - HONDA - 1'58.495
20 - Mike Di Meglio - 63 - FRA - Avintia Racing MotoGP - FTR-KAWASAKI - 1'58.732
21 - Danilo Petrucci - 9 - ITA - IodaRacing Project - IODA-SUTER - 1'59.321
22 - Broc Parkes - 23 - AUS - Paul Bird Motorsport - PBM - 1'59.328
23 - Michael Laverty - 70 - GBR - Paul Bird Motorsport - ART & PBM - No Time Set
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