Marc Márquez ended the first day in a positive 4th place overall. The Spanish rider had one of his best performances of the season at the Misano GP and even admitted to keeping the same bike setup for this weekend.
Asked about the new circuit and the performance of Joan Mir and his team, Marc said: “It’s a very good circuit, better than we expected, they’ve done a great job and we’re all very grateful, there’s no doubt that in the coming years it will be one of the best circuits. For me Joan is an incredibly talented rider and when we’re at a new circuit the rider always stands out. This morning we’ve been very competitive, we’re in Q2 which is very good and if you look at Fabio he’s there too because the driver matters more at the moment.
Regarding the sensations he had during the day, the Spanish driver spoke about the experience of being on a completely new circuit and how difficult it will be to overtake.
– ‘ The positions at the start will be essential, because it’s very difficult to overtake because if you go off the ideal line you run out of grip, but at the moment we’re in a good position to fight at the front of the grid. Tomorrow the others will also be faster, so it will be difficult to know if we’re in a good position, but if the race was today there’s no doubt we’d be fine.
One of the themes of the new circuit is the importance of braking and the heat, Marc Márquez said: ‘The design of the track is very good and so is the grip. In the first corner it’s very easy to make a mistake, you have to be very precise, it’s undoubtedly the most difficult braking on the circuit. Another factor will be the heat, not tomorrow, but it will definitely be very demanding on Sunday, but we’ll see how it goes. I tried in practice today to find the limits of the track, on this circuit we can approach corners very differently, we’re professional riders and we have to adapt to each situation.
Marc Márquez, as mentioned earlier, continues to use the same setup as he did at Misano and from the Spanish rider’s results this morning, it was the best option.
– ‘In this set-up I’ve kept the same base as in Misano, Joan liked my set-up in testing and is using it this weekend, as is Taka (Nakagami). For Honda this is important because we’re all going in the same direction, which really helps to develop the bike. At this circuit I don’t feel the bike is as physical as it was at Misano because the heat won’t be a problem for me’.