Marquez sets the pace on day one in Brno after a spectacular save in FP2

Marc Marquez
Marc Marquez

It was a positive first day in Brno for the Repsol Honda Team, with Marc Marquez the fastest at the end of FP2 after once again showing his incredible talent and instinct by spectacularly saving a possible crash.

Marc was sixth in FP1 after having his fastest lap cancelled due to exceeding the track limit at turn 14, like many other riders. He was able to make a step forward in FP2, aided by a setup modification that improved his feeling enough to lower his time by over a second with a new tyre; tomorrow he will continue working with his team to also improve his race pace with used tires.

Marc Marquez 1ST

“Today was a positive day because we were able to improve significantly from the first to the second session. We’re still not where we would like to be, and although the position is good, the important thing is to work with the race in mind. In this respect, Jorge [Lorenzo] and Valentino [Rossi] have a very steady pace. We’ve been trying out many things, especially this afternoon, and now we have to assess what worked better for us and what we must continue looking at. In the afternoon we were a bit lucky to save a possible crash similar to one I had in 2014 at this same track during a testing session. This one was even bigger because it was very long and my lean angle was about 67.5 degrees. I just lost the front and when I saved it I told myself, Okay, let’s go back to the box to cool down a bit, because I was a little bit excited. It means that we’re pushing hard to find our pace. Tomorrow we’ll see if we can take another step forward, especially in terms of race pace, to be able to aim for the podium on Sunday. If we do that, then why shouldn't we target the victory too?"

Results

Pos. Rider Num Nation Team Constructor Time/Gap
1 MARQUEZ Marc 93 SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 1'55.840
2 IANNONE Andrea 29 ITA Ducati Team Ducati 0.104
3 LORENZO Jorge 99 SPA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 0.137
4 BARBERA Hector 8 SPA Avintia Racing Ducati 0.284
5 ROSSI Valentino 46 ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 0.334
6 DOVIZIOSO Andrea 4 ITA Ducati Team Ducati 0.395
7 ESPARGARO Aleix 41 SPA Team Suzuki Ecstar Suzuki 0.601
8 SMITH Bradley 38 GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 0.654
9 VINALES Maverick 25 SPA Team Suzuki Ecstar Suzuki 0.775
10 PEDROSA Dani 26 SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 0.822
11 CRUTCHLOW Cal 35 GBR LCR Honda Honda 0.997
12 BAZ Loris 76 FRA Avintia Racing Ducati 1.117
13 PETRUCCI Danilo 9 ITA Octo Pramac Racing Ducati 1.212
14 REDDING Scott 45 GBR Octo Pramac Racing Ducati 1.250
15 ESPARGARO Pol 44 SPA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 1.495
16 LAVERTY Eugene 50 IRE Aspar MotoGP Team Ducati 1.496
17 BRADL Stefan 6 GER Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia 1.631
18 BAUTISTA Alvaro 19 SPA Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia 1.729
19 HERNANDEZ Yonny 68 COL Aspar MotoGP Team Ducati 1.884
20 RABAT Tito 53 SPA Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS Honda 2.214