Under incredibly hot temperatures, the GP of Catalunya got underway today.

It was a strange day with the Repsol Honda Riders, Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa, working hard to find the best setting on their RCV213V Hondas. This morning when the air temperature was 31ºC and the track 44ºC, Dani finished 6th with his lap of 1’42.664 (lap 5/18) and Championship leader, Marc, only able to manage seventh with 1’42.742 (lap 8/19).

This afternoon, temperatures rose to 34ºC (air) and 55ºC (track) and Marc was able to improve by half a second using the hard option front and rear tyres finishing third in the session and fourth for the day with 1’42.274 (lap 8/19). Dani was not able to better his morning time which he recorded on soft option front and rear tyres. He finished tenth for the session (1’43.078 on lap 6/17) and ninth for the day in the combined times.



Marc Marquez - 4th - 1'42.274

"Despite not being at the top today, I am happy with how this first day of practice for the Catalan Grand Prix went and I've made good progress. In the first session I found things a little difficult, but in the second session we improved and this has led to us having a clear direction to go in tomorrow. I think this is the most important thing to take from today”

Dani Pedrosa - 9th - 1'42.664

“The good news is that I was able to ride better today than in Mugello. I hope that with a few more laps under my belt I will loosen up even more, and things will go even better. This afternoon we tried out the larger brake discs, which react better and mean that you need to use the brake lever a little differently with your fingers, which is something I am getting used to. We also worked with the hard tyre compound on the front and the rear, and I was able to use them for the entire afternoon session"


PRACTICE RESULTS - Gran Premi de Catalunya - Round 7

1 - Aleix Espargaro - 41 - ESP - NGM Mobile Forward Racing - YAMAHA - 1’41.672

2 - Bradley Smith - 38 - GBR - Monster Yamaha Tech 3 - YAMAHA - 1’42.123

3 - Stefan Bradl - 6 - GER - LCR Honda MotoGP - HONDA - 1’42.130

4 - Marc Marquez - 93 - ESP - Repsol Honda Team - HONDA - 1’42.274

5 - Jorge Lorenzo - 99 - ESP - Yamaha Factory Racing - YAMAHA - 1’42.282

6 - Andrea Iannone - 29 - ITA - Pramac Racing - DUCATI - 1’42.411

7 - Valentino Rossi - 46 - ITA - Yamaha Factory - YAMAHA - 1’42.423

8 - Pol Espargaro - 44 - ESP - Monster Yamaha Tech 3 - YAMAHA - 1’42.608

9 - Dani Pedrosa - 26 - ESP - Repsol Honda Team - HONDA - 1’42.664

10 - Andrea Dovizioso - 4 - ITA - Ducati Team - DUCATI - 1’42.812

11 - Alvaro Bautista - 19 - ESP - Go & Fun Honda Gresini - HONDA - 1’42.833

12 - Yonny Hernandez - 68 - COL - Pramac Racing - DUCATI - 1’42.860

13 - Scott Redding - 45 - GBR - Go & Fun Honda Gresini - HONDA - 1’43.612

14 - Michele Pirro - 51 - ITA - Ducati Team - DUCATI - 1’43.644

15 - Cal Crutchlow - 35 - GBR - Ducati Team - DUCATI - 1’43.725

16 - Colin Edwards - 5 - USA - NGM Mobile Forward Racing - YAMAHA - 1’43.819

17 - Karel Abraham - 17 - CZE - Cardion AB Motoracing - HONDA - 1’43.905

18 - Hector Barbera - 8 - ESP - Avintia Racing MotoGP - FTR-KAWASAKI - 1’43.961

19 - Nicky Hayden - 69 - USA - Drive M7 Aspar - HONDA - 1’44.008

20 - Hiroshi Aoyama - 7 - JPN - Drive M7 Aspar - HONDA - 1’44.096

21 - Michael Laverty - 70 - GBR - Paul Bird Motorsport - ART & PBM - 1’44.450

22 - Broc Parkes - 23 - AUS - Paul Bird Motorsport - PBM - 1’44.681

23 - Mike Di Meglio - 63 - FRA - Avintia Racing MotoGP - FTR-KAWASAKI - 1’45.482

24 - Michel Fabrizio - 84 - ITA - IodaRacing Project - IODA-SUTER - 1’47.297

.