After his victory in Qatar, Franco Morbidelli continues to make his mark in South America during the first day of testing for the Argentine Moto2 Grand Prix. The Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS driver dominated the first sessions on the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit.
This morning, the Italian only conceded the best time by a breath. Twelve days after celebrating his first Grand Prix victory on the Losail circuit in Qatar, Morbidelli set the record straight this afternoon by setting the best time in 1'44.188, relegating his opponents to 0.150 seconds. .
Morbidelli improved his pace by a second between the two sessions taking advantage of the improvement of the track, but also of better weather conditions with lighter wind. Rider having completed the most laps this afternoon, and eager to become the first Italian to win two races in a row in Moto2, Morbidelli could not have better prepared for the second event of the season.
The first day of testing for the Argentine Grand Prix was more eventful for Alex Marquez. This morning, the Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS driver set the eighth fastest time before falling at very high speed in turn number 3.
Once again demonstrating his strength of character, Marquez fought in FP2 at the front. The Spaniard even held the best time a few minutes from the end of the session. With a lap of 1'44.557, Marquez finally finished sixth, just 0.3 seconds behind Morbidelli. There is no doubt that Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS can hope to see its two drivers reach the podium on Sunday.
Franco Morbidelli : 1st – 1'44.188
“This first day went well. We did a good job in both sessions and I was fast this morning and this afternoon. This means that we managed to maintain the momentum and confidence from our good winter preparation and victory in Qatar. We now have to stay focused on the rest of the weekend so that I can fight for victory again on Sunday. I spent most of the day working to manage the grip on the worn tires and we are already at a good level with the bike. We now have to see what the weather has in store for tomorrow because there is talk of the rain coming. I think we are ready whatever the conditions, we should be able to face them calmly and methodically. »
Alex Marquez : 6rd – 1'44.557
“I must be happy with how the day ended after my big antics this morning. I recovered well from that crash, entirely my fault, and I'm sorry to the team for the state I left the bike in. They did an incredible job repairing it before the second practice session, and my top six rewarded them a bit. I concentrated this afternoon with the hard rear tire in order to preserve soft tires for tomorrow morning and for qualifying. I will work tomorrow morning with this tire to increase my pace and adapt my driving before qualifying. This soft tire could also be an option for racing. You might as well adapt to it as quickly as possible. »
