The holidays are over, after three weeks of summer break, Marc Márquez is back on the Brno track in the Czech Republic. The weather conditions remained clear during the two test sessions, which allowed the Catalan to test his two chassis.
Very fast from the start of the day, Marc Marquez led a good part of the first free practice session and concluded it with a second position, in 1'56.948. During the second test session, the Catalan and his team focused on the various configuration options for the bike. A few minutes before the end of FP2, they decided to switch to a soft rear tire, which would help the driver achieve a time of 1'55.825. He then finished the session again in second position.
« It was important to get off to a good start after the summer break. The bike felt great today, allowing us to try a mix of tires, settings and some chassis options. We focused on the setup more than the speed of a lap until the last run because tomorrow it looks like there is a good chance of rain. Tonight we will look at everything to better understand the positives and negatives in order to choose our best option for tomorrow. We are happy, especially with how the day went and we will see what tomorrow brings, but we are on the right path».
If the pace seems satisfactory for the Catalan driver, he nevertheless remains somewhat upset because of a grip problem with the rear tire...
« The rear tire is deteriorating significantly, so it is even more important than usual to work with worn tires to understand how it works. The front tire was much too soft. This year, Michelin worked on these and with the hard tire I am improving, less with the medium tires ».
Still hesitant about the choice of chassis he wants to use, the classic or the one covered in carbon, Marc Marquez continues to work with both, one during FP1, then the other in FP2. The new one is promising but still needs to be validated on different routes.
« I achieved my fastest lap with the new chassis, but with the old one I have already celebrated several victories. I know him by heart and I know his reactions. The mechanics are trying to analyze everything because the two chassis are very similar. The old one works perfectly and we still need to work a little on the new one. So I really don't know which one to use at the moment. When you come out of a bad situation, it's easy to choose a new chassis. But I always had a good impression with the old one, and I won a lot of races with it. That's why it's more difficult for me to choose the new chassis. Then when you install a new chassis, the balance of the bike changes a bit. We know where we can go with the new one, but we need to look closer and go into the details. It has potential, but we need to try it on different tracks and see how it works with different grips and different configurations. We must analyze its strengths and weaknesses ».
Ranking Czech Republic Grand Prix in Brno FP2:
Classification credit: MotoGP.com
