Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) had a good day back on track for the first time since taking the 2017 title, going third quickest and putting in 70 laps. But it began a little differently – with a save…
“This morning I went out and motivation was really high,” smiles Marquez, “then immediately I had a big save so I said ‘ok, we’re doing it the normal way’! But since that, I felt really good on the bike, you enjoy it when you’re Champion and everything is different. You approach practice in a different way, more calm and trying to understand things because you know you’ve been Champion and the most important thing is to understand the bike and not just be fastest.”
Three tenths off the top, Marquez wasn’t the fastest – but got through a good amount of work and tried three different bikes: the 2017, a modified 2017, and the new 2018 bike.
“Today we tried our current bike,” explains the number 93. “Then our current bike with a slight modification, and then the prototype. I can’t say a lot because we still need to adjust many things – it’s a new chassis, new engine, new exhaust, many different things – and now it’s important to understand well and try to improve tomorrow. To understand which are the best points and what are the weak points, and find a good compromise.”
Day 2 gets in gear from 10:00 (GMT +1).