Marquez, Pedrosa look forward to racing at Buriram International Circuit for the first time
. By Bikeland Staff
In five days the world will know the first ever MotoGP winner of the Grand Prix of Thailand, a country where the World Championship is hugely popular and the race, to be hosted at the Buriram International Circuit, is eagerly awaited.
Looking back at the three-day test hosted last 16-18 February at the 4.6 km Hermann Tilke-designed track, Dani Pedrosa and Marc Marquez completed totals of 224 and 271 laps, setting the first- and third-fastest times, respectively, in the combined standings (1’29.781” on day 3 for Marquez, 1’29.969” on day 2 for Pedrosa). Faithful to his typical working method, Marc also completed a very impressive race simulation in the afternoon heat of the test’s final day, including a long string of high-1’30” laps.
Although weather and track conditions will have to be addressed all over again via tyre choice and bike setup beginning Friday morning, the Repsol Honda riders will try and put to good use the work completed, in order to be among the first three riders to step onto the Thai MotoGP podium.
Marc Marquez
“It will be exciting to race in Thailand for the first time; for sure there will be many fans in the grandstands, which is always a nice feeling. We must remain focused and calm though, as it will be important to manage the weekend well, working in the way that we’re used to doing. We had a good test in February but we’ll need to recheck every detail starting on Friday morning. Some parts of the circuit are tricky, but the layout in general is nice. Surely the high humidity and temperature are going to be demanding on the body, but when you get on the bike you just forget those things and simply focus on riding.”
Marc Marquez
Dani Pedrosa
“It will be the first time we race in Buriram, so we don’t know exactly what to expect from the weekend. Of course we have the references from the test we did in February, which went well, so we hope the feeling will be similar. The heat will be high and that will severely put to the test the bike, tyres and ourselves, but it’s something we have dealt with many times already in Malaysia.”
Dani Pedrosa
Rider Standings
Pos. Rider Num Nation Points Team
1
MARQUEZ
Marc 93 SPA 246 Repsol Honda Team
2
DOVIZIOSO
Andrea 4 ITA 174 Ducati Team
3
ROSSI
Valentino 46 ITA 159 Movistar Yamaha MotoGP
4
LORENZO
Jorge 99 SPA 130 Ducati Team
5
VINALES
Maverick 25 SPA 130 Movistar Yamaha MotoGP
6
CRUTCHLOW
Cal 35 GBR 119 LCR Honda
7
PETRUCCI
Danilo