Pedrosa kicks off 2015 season for Repsol Honda with Marquez brothers taking an exhibition ride

2014-11-10 16:50
Fresh from their second successive Triple Crown, the Repsol Honda Team were back on track in Valencia today for the first official test of 2015.

After a long season, Marc decided – together with HRC – that he would not test today, and only his teammate Dani Pedrosa took to the track to begin his test programme. He began the half day test aboard his 2014 spec machine and then crossed over onto the 2015 prototype – an updated version from the Brno test earlier in the year. He completed a total of 33 laps with his best time of 1’31.602 (lap 15) placing him 6th for the day.

Instead of testing today, Marc and his brother Alex – who was crowned Moto3 World Champion yesterday – took advantage of the kind gift from HRC to Alex to test ride Marc’s MotoGP machine, in recognition of his World Title success, the first one for Honda in Moto3. The two brothers completed 12 exhibition laps on Marc’s two bikes, riding in tandem around the Valencia track.

The test will continue tomorrow and Wednesday with 2014 World Champion Marc joining the rest of the field in an official capacity tomorrow.

TEAM QUOTES

Dani Pedrosa
6th - 1'31.602 - laps 33
“On this first day of testing we put in only a few laps, just to try out some basic things. The test begins for real tomorrow, which is when we will try to find a good setup. Today we just verified that the bikes work well and that everything is in its right place.”
Marc Marquez profile image
Marc Marquez
Exhibition lap only
"It was a wonderful experience riding with Alex and following him around the track! Sometimes it got a bit too much for him to take in, which is normal because it was his first laps on a MotoGP bike. I really enjoyed myself, but also had a bit of trouble going behind him because sometimes he went a little wide. Overall, he did very well. Coming from Moto3 and completing some laps on a MotoGP bike is difficult and he surprised us with how well he adapted. Alex enjoyed this experience; we’ll see if in the future we can repeat it!”
Alex Marquez
Exhibition lap only
"I am very happy to have tried the MotoGP bike. Yesterday I fulfilled a dream that I had, and today I fulfilled another. It’s not every day you can try a bike like this! I want to thank Honda and especially Shuhei Nakamoto for this opportunity that they have given me. It is a great gift after becoming Moto3 World Champion. What impressed me the most was the power that the bike has. The feeling you get when you're on the straight is incredible and braking is amazing too, plus the time between corners is greatly reduced. At first I was a little stiff on the bike, but I think I held up well. It was a lot of fun and I ended up a little tired!”
TESTING RESULTS
Valencia Post Race Test

Pos. Rider Num. Nation Team Constructor Time/Gap
1 Jorge Lorenzo 99 ESP Movistar Yamaha MotoGP YAMAHA 1'30.975
2 Pol Espargaro 44 ESP Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA 1'31.118
3 Bradley Smith 38 GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA 1'31.204
4 Valentino Rossi 46 ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP YAMAHA 1'31.250
5 Andrea Iannone 29 ITA Ducati Team DUCATI 1'31.465
6 Dani Pedrosa 26 ESP Repsol Honda Team HONDA 1'31.602
7 Andrea Dovizioso 4 ITA Ducati Team DUCATI 1'31.644
8 Cal Crutchlow 35 GBR CWM LCR Honda HONDA 1'31.847
9 Michele Pirro 51 ITA Ducati Test Team DUCATI 1'32.054
10 Yonny Hernandez 68 COL Energy T.I. Pramac Racing DUCATI 1'32.146
11 Hector Barbera 8 ESP Avintia Racing MotoGP DUCATI 1'32.190
12 Stefan Bradl 6 GER NGM Mobile Forward Racing FORWARD YAMAHA 1'32.209
13 Danilo Petrucci 9 ITA Pramac Racing DUCATI 1'32.314
14 Aleix Espargaro 41 ESP Team Suzuki MotoGP SUZUKI 1'32.315
15 Scott Redding 45 GBR Marc VDS Racing Team HONDA 1'32.998
16 Alex De Angelis 15 RSM Octo IodaRacing Team APRILIA 1'33.132
17 Maverick Vinales 25 ESP Team Suzuki MotoGP SUZUKI 1'33.268
18 Karel Abraham 17 CZE Cardion AB Motoracing HONDA 1'33.446
19 Mike Di Meglio 63 FRA Avintia Racing MotoGP DUCATI 1'33.594
20 Loris Baz 76 FRA NGM Mobile Forward Racing FORWARD YAMAHA 1'33.834
21 Eugene Laverty 50 IRL Drive M7 Aspar HONDA 1'34.320
22 Jack Miller 43 AUS CWM LCR Honda HONDA 1'34.633
23 Alvaro Bautista 19 ESP Factory Aprilia Gresini APRILIA 1'34.919
24 Alex Hoffmann 66 GER Aprilia Test Team APRILIA 1'35.646
25 Marco Melandri 33 ITA Factory Aprilia Gresini APRILIA 1'35.959
26 Marc Marquez 93 ESP Repsol Honda Team HONDA 1'36.181
27 Alex Marquez 12 ESP Repsol Honda Team HONDA 1'36.658

Source: Repsol Honda Team

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