After their double during the previous day's race, Marc Márquez and Dani Pedrosa were hard at work again yesterday on the Jerez circuit for a single day of IRTA testing.
On the program for this test session which took place with temperatures of 29° in the air and 43° on the track, the new exhaust that both drivers had received in Austin (and that Dani Pedrosa had only tried briefly) , new electronic settings as well as testing the new Michelin hard casing front tire (in Medium and Hard specifications).
Marc Márquez was the rider who completed the most laps on the track and ended his day just 0,002 seconds behind Maverick Vinales, while Dani Pedrosa, winner the day before, finished third, conceding only 0,081 seconds to the Yamaha rider.
We see, the Hondas are in good shape, despite the complaints of some of their drivers…
Marc Marquez : “I am very satisfied with today's test. We did a lot of laps and we tried a lot of things, working hard. It took us half the day to set up this new exhaust, but I think it was important because it has a bit of potential. It was positive and now we need to evaluate whether we should use it at Le Mans, or do a bit more comparisons. Anyway, we made some steps forward, especially with the worn tires. I'm happy because we worked a lot with the hard back and it was a positive day. I also tried the front tire that Michelin brought here to test, and it gives me more stability on the brakes, more feedback when entering corners. I love it. Of course, they'll now gather information from all the other drivers, so we'll see what they decide on that. »
Dani Pedrosa : “Today we had perfect track conditions, quite similar to yesterday but I would say with more grip. I think it was a pretty positive day because we tested the front tires that Michelin had brought here, and we did some comparison testing. I'm happy because it was important to have the chance to test the tire in good conditions. It gives a slightly different feeling, but of course the settings are important to understand which one is best, since they have to be adapted. Today, the feeling was quite positive, and so we will see what choice is made, then we will live with it, as much as possible. This is our attitude on this subject. We also did some comparison testing with the exhaust that I had only tried very briefly in Austin. There is some potential here for some improvement, and we just need to iron out a few details to make everything work better. We also made some improvements with the electronics and confirmed that our basic settings worked. Now we will put everything together to prepare for Le Mans. »
1 VIÑALES, Maverick Movistar Yamaha 1'38.635
2 MARQUEZ, Marc Repsol Honda +0.002
3 PEDROSA, Dani Repsol Honda +0.081
4 ESPARGARO, Aleix Aprilia +0.364
5 DOVIZIOSO, Andrea Ducati +0.395
6 LORENZO, Jorge Ducati +0.489
7 CRUTCHLOW, Cal LCR Honda +0.684
8 BARBERA, Hector Reale Avintia Ducati +0.825
9 ZARCO, Johann Monster Yamaha Tech3 +0.893
10 REDDING, Scott Octo Pramac Ducati +0.901
11 MILLER, Jack EG 0,0 Marc VDS Honda +0.913
12 RABAT, Tito EG 0,0 Marc VDS Honda +0.941
13 IANNONE, Andrea Suzuki Ecstar +1.019
14 FOLGER, Jonas Monster Yamaha Tech3 +1.162
15 PETRUCCI, Danilo Octo Pramac Ducati +1.244
16 ESPARGARO, Pol Red Bull KTM +1.324
17 SMITH, Bradley Red Bull KTM +1.476
18 TSUDA, Takuya Suzuki Ecstar +1.528
18 BAZ, Loris Reale Avintia Ducati +1.742
19 KALLIO, Mika Red Bull KTM +1.747
20 ROSSI, Valentino Movistar Yamaha +1.828
21 LOWES, Sam Aprilia +1.937
23 GUINTOLI, Sylvain Suzuki Ecstar +2.625
