This Friday in Jerez will have delivered an astonishing verdict. Three Hondas in the lead, but their leader Marc Marquez for several seasons apparently struggling. Fourteenth, however, he admits that he kept some under control by not wanting to take any risks on a track dotted with patches of humidity. But listening to him, nothing is yet very clear at HRC about the new RC213V.
Fourteenth is not the kind of position you are used to finding Marc Márquez. His teammate Dani Pedrosa on the other hand experienced this kind of inconvenience. But this Friday in Jerez, it was the latter who took risks to impose his pace on the MotoGP field. While MM93 was careful to settle for the bare minimum. The world upside down !
And it is not the comments of the reigning World Champion that will enlighten us: “ I also drive a Honda but I don't know why we have Honda kings in the lead today because it's normally a track that has a less enviable fate in store for us. It's certainly positive to see Honda dominate in this way ". From there, the false innocence ends. Because Marc Márquez is not the type to tolerate a delay of 1 seconds on his teammate without giving some explanations…
« You have to take into account the overall pace. Running a fast lap is one thing and having a pace for the race is another. Dani had a quick ride, but he didn't impress me. There were traces of humidity during FP2 and the grip was not perfect. It is only during FP3 that we can assess the forces present ».
The revenge on Saturday morning will therefore be terrible. Now, this 213 RC2017 remains a mystery: “ Last year we had some strong points with the screamer engine. We braked hard and came out of the corners quickly. Even with low grip it worked well. We lost that but we gained speed at the apex. Our current situation compared to that of 2016 is not yet clear. So in Austin: the margin we had compared to our opponents was greater. This year it was tighter. But we are apparently better in Jerez. So it's going in the right direction ».
« The bike is more stable when braking but if you really push, it moves a lot. In the rain, we have a good bike. And for good reason, we don't use all the torque when exiting the corner. Which eliminates our major concern which is the lifting of the front wheel. If the temperatures increase, we will see because we have a problem with the front tire which is too soft. We are better when the weather is cooler ».
The counter of Marc Marquez now has 30 victories, one more than his teammate Dani Pedrosa, making him the most successful Honda rider in MotoGP.
#SpanishGP J.1: MotoGP Chronos
1. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m 39.420s [Lap 17/20] 286km/h (Top Speed)
2. Jack Miller AUS Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 1m 39.964s +0.544s [18/20] 284km/h
3. Cal Crutchlow GBR LCR Honda (RC213V) 1m 40.045s +0.625s [16/19] 285km/h
4. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP17)
1m 40.291s +0.871s [17/20] 289km/h
5. Danilo Petrucci ITA Octo Pramac Racing (Desmosedici GP17) 1m 40.378s +0.958s [18/19] 287km/h
6. Maverick Vinales ESP Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 1m 40.379s +0.959s [16/16] 284km/h
7. Alvaro Bautista ESP Pull&Bear Aspar Team (Desmosedici GP16) 1m 40.392s +0.972s [19/21] 288km/h
8. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP17) 1m 40.428s +1.008s [16/18] 289km/h
9. Alex Espargaro ESP Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 1m 40.479s +1.059s [17/17] 283km/h
10. Espargaro Pol ESP Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (RC16) 1m 40.573s +1.153s [15/15] 287km/h
11. Scott Redding GBR Octo Pramac Racing (Desmosedici GP16) 1m 40.639s +1.219s [17/19] 286km/h
12. Valentino Rossi ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 1m 40.698s +1.278s [20/20] 286km/h
13. Jonas Folger GER Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1)*
1m 40.773s +1.353s [20/20] 286km/h
14.
Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m 40.915s +1.495s [18/19] 284km/h
15. Johann zarco ENG Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1)*
1m 41.019s +1.599s [17/17] 286km/h
16. Andrea Iannone ITA Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR)
1m 41.165s +1.745s [18/19] 285km/h
17. Tito Rabat ESP Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 1m 41.165s +1.745s [19/20] 282km/h
18. Bradley Smith GBR Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (RC16) 1m 41.432s +2.012s [20/20] 284km/h
19. Takuya Tsuda JPN Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR)
1m 41.887s +2.467s [18/19] 281km/h
20. Sam Lowes GBR Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP)*
1m 41.905s +2.485s [16/18] 282km/h
21. Karel Abraham CZE Pull&Bear Aspar Team (Desmosedici GP15) 1m 41.909s +2.489s [14/16] 286km/h
22. Loris Baz FRA Reale Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP15) 1m 42.515s +3.095s [10/19] 280km/h
23. Hector Barbera ESP Reale Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP16) 1m 42.630s +3.210s [17/17] 289km/h
