Alex Marquez and Franco Morbidelli started their weekend very well on the Assen circuit. The two drivers of Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS indeed stood out during the first day of testing for the Dutch Grand Prix by scrambling for a place in the top three.
The Spaniard had an eventful second session after taking an encouraging eighth place this morning in FP1. Very quickly on the pace this afternoon with a time of 1'39.371 which allowed him to climb into fourth position, Marquez was only 0,051 seconds from the top three when he fell heavily in the fast left turn of the name of Ramshoek which precedes the last chicane.
There were only twenty minutes left in this second session, and Marquez had to give up pursuing it despite his efforts to bring his damaged machine back to the garage. Still fourth at the end of this first day of testing, the Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS driver is convinced of being able to fight tomorrow for a place in the top six of the starting grid.
Morbidelli also started his Dutch weekend on a positive note. With a time of 1'38.406, the Italian finished just 0,035 seconds behind his teammate after a session held in surprisingly hot conditions.
The Team Estrella Galicia driver improved his FP1 time by one second at the end of a particularly competitive FP2 with only 0,9 seconds separating the top fifteen. The good news for Morbidelli is that he seems to have gotten rid of the persistent front end problems that had been affecting him for three races.
Alex Marquez: 4th – 1’38.371
“I want to focus on what was positive today, and the good news is that we have improved a lot. I have really good pace with both tire options, the hard and the soft, and that gives me a good dose of confidence for tomorrow. The fall was a shame because it cost me time on the track, but the most important thing is that I didn't get hurt. It was a very fast curve and I can thank my equipment even if a few parts of my body got a little hot while I was sliding. »
Franco Morbidelli: 5th – 1'38.406
“I have never found it easy to go fast on this circuit and so I am happy to start this weekend in the top five. I am very happy with the work done by the team because we made good progress between the two sessions. I was definitely more competitive this afternoon. I had a big problem in the last three races and I'm happy to get rid of it. We can now work calmly without being disturbed by these front axle problems which annoyed me. This is all the more important as Assen is a fast circuit where you need confidence going forward to go fast. »
Naoya Kaneko: Chief Engineer of Alex Marquez
“Alex felt good on the bike from the start of testing this morning and we were able to work throughout the first session with the hard rear tire. We continued with this tire at the start of FP2 and his times were still very good. It was when we passed the soft and he was starting to improve his times that he had a little problem in turn 15 and he was unable to avoid the fall. Assen is a fast and twisty circuit which suits Alex's driving well and I am sure this crash will not impact his performance for Sunday's race. »
