Marquez fastest on day one in Australia

Marquez tears up Phillip Island

The first day of the Australian test has concluded with Repsol Honda's Marc Marquez leading the field, his fastest lap of 1'29.497" just three-thousands of a second off the 2016 best race lap (1'29.494").

The day was windy but with blue skies and temperatures that rose from quite chilly in the morning to 30° C (41.8° on track). The riders began riding around 11 a.m. and continued working on their 2017 machines. Testing will continue for two more days.

Marc Marquez – 1st
We had a quite a busy day because we worked a lot on the engine, which of course is different from the one we used here at Phillip Island last year. That meant we had to readjust everything during the morning and spend a lot of time in the box. In the afternoon we found a base for the electronics, but we still need to work harder in this area. I'm fast, but like in Malaysia we want to double-check how it's working in some areas. We also worked on the setup, and overall it has been a positive day. The weather was good, which is always important, so hopefully it will stay the same for the next two days.

Valentino Rossi – 2nd
It was a good day, I'm quite satisfied. We started in a difficult way this morning. Before the break I wasn't strong enough and because I couldn't push at the maximum I didn't have a lot of feeling. We worked well during the break and in the afternoon the situation changed, I was a bit better. At the end, with the new tyre, I was able to do a good lap and second position is positive for the first day. For sure, we still have a lot to do, especially on the long distance and we hope to have good weather also in the next few days.

Results