MotoGP Jerez 2 J1: Álex Márquez (Honda/15) presents his 2020 helmet and ranks 2nd Honda

“And if there’s only one left, I’ll be the one!” » could estimate this Friday Álex Márquez by talking about the brotherhood he forms with Marc, and by paraphrasing Victor Hugo in Les Châtiments. His champion brother was withdrawn this Friday, Cal Crutchlow in bad shape, and all Honda's hopes rested on Álex and Takaaki Nakagami. The world's leading manufacturer had seen more prosperous days.

Fortunately Nakagami achieved a great feat, very rewarding for him compared to Honda, when he set the best time in the second free practice session. This allowed him to provisionally qualify for Q2 by obtaining the eighth time in the general classification combined in the two Friday sessions.

Álex Márquez finished the morning session in fifteenth position, with a time of 1'37.957, 0.894 behind the best time of Maverick Vinales. During FP2 in the afternoon, ten minutes from the end Álex clocked in 1'39.004, then he ranked eighteenth in this second session in 1'38.806, 1.091 behind the leader, Takaaki Nakagami on a Honda the LCR team.

Alex therefore had the third free practice session on Saturday morning to qualify directly for Q2. Although difficult, the mission was not impossible because the weather is cooler, and therefore more favorable, in the morning. If he was 0.894 behind the fastest time of Maverick Viñales, on the other hand he was only 0.218 behind the tenth time (the last qualifier for Q2) of Andrea Dovizioso in 1'37.739.

As a benchmark time, we have the 1'37.761 achieved by Álex last week during free practice, then his 1'38.256 obtained in Q1, and finally his 1'39.603 achieved on the 18th of the 25 laps of the Grand Prix race in 'Spain.

“It will be interesting to see how much we can improve this weekend, as we have already been able to take a step forward, especially in the warmer conditions of the afternoon, Alex said. I'm 100% sure we can go one step further tomorrow because we found a setup change for the heat conditions that helped us. Tomorrow will be an important day for us, the direct passage to Q2 will require a short 1'37 and our objective is to be as close as possible. We are working on our pace to try to achieve this goal. »

Regarding his brother Marc, Álex said “Of course, I talked to him a little about the crash. He told me he was trying to relax a little after making up several places. But sometimes it's more dangerous to make a mistake if you relax a little. It's a critical curve, we've seen a lot of falls and it can happen. Marc will definitely try to do his best. It's difficult to help him. I have a lot of work on my side and I will also focus on myself and my progress. It's my aim. But of course, if you see someone fall and it's your brother, then it's not easy for anyone. I found out shortly after that he was injured, but other than that he was fine. So I didn't have to worry too much. He knows what to do. He's 27, so he's old enough to know what he's doing. So I am calm in this regard and I concentrate on my work. »

“I've watched a lot of videos and I'm trying to improve. I realized that we are getting closer and closer with each turn and each day. I am happy. It is nice to see what aspects we need to improve. However, it is easier to recognize it in the data than to implement it on the course. But I think I'm more efficient now. Especially in fast corners I need to have a better feeling for the front. We are closer than the lap times show. I think in MotoGP you can improve a lot of things with small details. We are closer every day. »

💥 @ alexmarquez73 and @PeccoBagnaia get a little too close for comfort at Turn 13!#AndaluciaGP 🏁 pic.twitter.com/53KXHiDv1l

- MotoGP @ 🏁 (@MotoGP) July 24, 2020