Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez recorded the fastest time in both practice sessions today for Sunday’s Valencia GP, with teammate Dani Pedrosa 5th in the combined times.
The times were already fast from FP1 with Marc recording a blistering lap of 1’31.296 on his final lap of 19, 0.332 seconds faster than the circuit lap record (Pedrosa – 2013, 1’31.628). Dani finished the session in 4th with his lap of 1’31.647 also on his final lap of 19.
In the afternoon, although the track temperature was 8ºC warmer, the wind increased and the track became slower. Marc and Dani weren’t able to improve and their times from this morning placed them 1st and 5th on this first day. The field is incredibly close, and with under one second separating the top twelve riders there is sure to be a great battle for pole position tomorrow.
TEAM QUOTES
Marc Marquez - 1st - 1'31.296
“The best thing about today was how I felt on the bike. Finishing fastest is a reference, but the most important thing is that the pace was good, and we have been improving and testing things out. This afternoon the track was a little slower, but we hope to continue improving tomorrow. I'm sure that there will be a nice fight for pole between myself, Jorge, Dani and Valentino.”
Dani Pedrosa - 5th - 1'31.647
“Today will did a lot of tyre testing, above all with the front. We tried out three different types of front tyre and rode with the soft rear in the two practice sessions. I think that overall the state of the track allowed us to ride fast, although in the afternoon it felt harder to improve our times because of the wind. We have to work to improve our setup and make a good tyre choice for the race, because the times are tight for both the factory bikes and non-factory bikes.”
PRACTICE RESULTS
Gran Premio Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana - Round 18
1 - Marc Marquez - 93 - ESP - Repsol Honda Team - HONDA - 1’31.296
2 - Jorge Lorenzo - 99 - ESP - Movistar Yamaha MotoGP - YAMAHA - 1’31.489
3 - Andrea Dovizioso - 4 - ITA - Ducati Team - DUCATI - 1’31.558
4 - Aleix Espargaro - 41 - ESP - NGM Mobile Forward Racing - YAMAHA - 1’31.565
5 - Dani Pedrosa - 26 - ESP - Repsol Honda Team - HONDA - 1’31.647
6 - Cal Crutchlow - 35 - GBR - Ducati Team - DUCATI - 1’31.731
7 - Valentino Rossi - 46 - ITA - Movistar Yamaha MotoGP - YAMAHA - 1’31.767
8 - Stefan Bradl - 6 - GER - LCR Honda MotoGP - HONDA - 1’31.935
9 - Pol Espargaro - 44 - ESP - Monster Yamaha Tech 3 - YAMAHA - 1’32.013
10 - Bradley Smith - 38 - GBR - Monster Yamaha Tech 3 - YAMAHA - 1’32.019
11 - Hector Barbera - 8 - ESP - Avintia Racing MotoGP - FTR-KAWASAKI - 1’32.153
12 - Michele Pirro - 51 - ITA - Ducati Team - DUCATI - 1’32.267
13 - Andrea Iannone - 29 - ITA - Pramac Racing - DUCATI - 1’32.486
14 - Alex De Angelis - 15 - RSM - NGM Mobile Forward Racing - YAMAHA 1’32.562
15 - Yonny Hernandez - 68 - COL - Pramac Racing - DUCATI - 1’32.689
16 - Alvaro Bautista - 19 - ESP - Go & Fun Honda Gresini - HONDA - 1’32.711
17 - Karel Abraham - 17 - CZE - Cardion AB Motoracing - HONDA - 1’32.725
18 - Scott Redding - 45 - GBR - Go & Fun Honda Gresini - HONDA - 1’32.771
19 - Randy De Puniet - 14 - FRA - Team Suzuki MotoGP - SUZUKI - 1’32.799
20 - Nicky Hayden - 69 - USA - Drive M7 Aspar - HONDA - 1’33.434
21 - Hiroshi Aoyama - 7 - JPN - Drive M7 Aspar - HONDA - 1’33.436
22 - Danilo Petrucci - 9 - ITA - IodaRacing Project - IODA-SUTER - 1’33.504
23 - Michael Laverty - 70 - GBR - Paul Bird Motorsport - ART & PBM - 1’33.737
24 - Broc Parkes - 23 - AUS - Paul Bird Motorsport - PBM - 1’34.106
25 - Mike Di Meglio - 63 - FRA - Avintia Racing MotoGP - FTR-KAWASAKI - 1’34.988
.