Marc Marquez is proving why he is world champion, with a solid 2nd place accomplished on day 2 of testing at Phillip Island. The Repsol Honda man couldn’t overcome the pace of Maverick Vinales, Marquez worked on set-up of the bike and race pace.
The reigning champion worked solidly, completing a total of 107 laps, and rounded off the session with two long runs of 15 laps each, gaining valuable data in order for the team to work on improving the machine before the season opener at Losail, Qatar.
“It’s been a day of really hard work, and I’m a little bit tired, but it was the plan we had for today with the team and we did it! Together with my engineers we decided to do many laps to try a few things, and we focused on riding as consistently as possible, trying to avoid any mistakes”. He went on, saying the importance of the two long runs, but also said that he isn’t where he wants to be.
“I also did two long runs at the end of the day, to try different configurations of the electronics, and that allowed us to gather a lot of information. Anyway, as I said yesterday, we’re still missing something, because I’m not 100% comfortable, but we’re working in a good way. Hopefully these two long runs will allow us to find the areas where we can take a step forward.
The Repsol Honda man also tried a new tyre, with the vision of trying another one for the rear tomorrow. “I also tried a new Michelin front tire and tomorrow we’ll try the rear one, as today we had no time to do it.”
Dani Pedrosa struggled throughout the day with a fever. Completing 40 laps, the Spaniard set his best on lap 38, before calling it a day. The winner of the San Marinese Grand Prix at Misano last year has struggled throughout winter testing, but also struggles at this circuit, as his weight hinders him from getting any significant heat in the tyres.
“Unfortunately, near the end of yesterday’s session I started feeling a bit strange and things got worse overnight, he began. This morning I couldn’t have breakfast as I wasn’t feeling good in my stomach and I had a bit of a fever and no strength.
“I could eat absolutely nothing until around 2 o’clock, so I just waited. I tried to do some laps in the afternoon, starting slowly, and although I improved a little lap by lap, I didn’t push hard.
Despite the hardships, Pedrosa is wishing for a healthier and faster final day at The Island: “Anyway, now I’m feeling better and hopefully tomorrow I’ll be in better shape for the final day of the test.”
Both Repsol Honda riders will be back out on track tomorrow for the final day of testing.
Kiko Giles @MotoGPKiko