Positive start to the Italian GP for Marquez, Pedrosa looks to improve

2018-06-01 19:31
It was a busy first day for Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa under fair weather conditions in Mugello, with the Repsol Honda pair working hard to adapt their RC213V race setups to the characteristics of the fast, challenging Italian track.

At the end of the day, Marc was pleased with posting the third-best lap time despite not yet being perfectly comfortable with the front tyre, while Dani struggled to find good grip in both sessions and had to settle for 14th in the combined rankings.

Both riders aim to make the best of the two remaining free practice sessions in order to improve their setups and speed in view of tomorrow afternoon’s qualifying session.

Marc Marquez
3RD 1'47.218
“Mugello is a track where we usually struggle, but we’re right there in third place. Our pace isn’t bad either, so we look at these positives and will see tomorrow if we’re able to improve further. Honestly, we were expecting to struggle a bit with the front tyre if temperatures were higher compared to the test, as was the case today, because the hardest compound is still a bit too soft for us. That said, I think we still have some margin for improvement. Besides, generally speaking, we’ve worked well and have improved our lap time quite a bit from the morning; tomorrow we’ll try and continue on this positive path. Finally, I’d like to add that I hope Michele [Pirro] gets well and comes back soon.”

Marc Marquez
Dani Pedrosa
14TH 1'47.924
“It was a tough day because I wasn't able to find a good feeling with rear, as I struggled a lot with lack of grip. We tried several tyres and also a few different suspension settings, but we couldn’t manage to improve grip. We have to understand if it’s something we must improve in the bike’s setup or if the situation is more related to the track conditions, but whatever the case, tomorrow it will be important to keep our concentration high, work well, and try and solve this matter in view of qualifying and the race.”

Dani Pedrosa
Combined Free Practice Times 2 Results
Pos. Rider Num Nation Team Time/Gap
1
IANNONE
Andrea 29 ITA Team Suzuki Ecstar 1'46.735
2
VINALES
Maverick 25 SPA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP 0.387
3
MARQUEZ
Marc 93 SPA Repsol Honda Team 0.483
4
ZARCO
Johann 5 FRA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 0.630
5
MILLER
Jack 43 AUS Alma Pramac Racing 0.668
6
CRUTCHLOW
Cal 35 GBR LCR Honda 0.698

Source: Honda Racing Corporation

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