The second official three-day pre-season test proved to be very productive for Marc Marquez, who today celebrated his 24th birthday. The reigning world champion was able to keep a very strong pace throughout the day and concluded the test in second position in the combined times.
On another fair day blessed with sunny conditions, the Repsol Honda rider wasted no time in taking to the track at 9:45 a.m. in order to take advantage of a 15 minute practice-start window that was implemented at the beginning of day. After that he continued to work positively on his RC213V setup and on engine mapping, in addition to testing the new tyre specs that Michelin brought to this test.
“I'm very happy with how it went today because we improved a lot, especially in the afternoon, even if I did my best lap time in the morning,” Marquez said. “In the end I felt much more comfortable and it seems that yesterday's long runs were useful for improving the electronics and getting closer to the level we wanted to reach.”
“Overall, I think it has been three very positive days, and we did a good job. Of course we shouldn't forget that this circuit is quite particular, and in Qatar we'll see where we really are. Today I had a funny present from my team, a magnifying glass; I know I'm quite persistent in asking to check the data to find the issues we had, and they told me to find it myself!”
“I'm very thankful that HRC is putting in a lot of effort, and step-by-step we're getting better. I'd like to wish all the best to my Crew Chief Santi [Hernandez], who wasn't able to be here at Philip Island because of some medical checks. We all missed him and we're looking forward to seeing him with us again at the next test!"
