Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa have completed a productive second day at the Qatar pre-season test. With more rubber laid down after yesterday’s action, track conditions improved today and the final times were very close with less than a second separating 1st and 14th. Marc spent the day working on general setup on his RC213V machine and Dani tested a new front fork as well as various other settings.
The top time was traded amongst a few riders and despite breaking the circuit lap record with his time of 1’55.091 on lap 27 of 54 (beating Stoner’s time from 2008 of 1’55.153), Marc had to settle for the 2nd spot on the timing sheets behind Dovizioso. Teammate Dani finished in 6th place with his time of 1’55.582 (lap 22 of 40).
The test concludes tomorrow and will signal the end of the 2015 pre-season.
Marc Marquez – 2nd
I’m happy that we improved our fastest lap, but above all I’m pleased with our overall pace, which is the most important thing. We have also gained confidence with the front end – thanks to a change to the geometry – which was something we had been finding difficult at this circuit. Tomorrow we will continue our programme, focusing on the rear in order to see if we can find more grip, but the overall verdict is positive so far and I feel confident.”
Dani Pedrosa – 6th
“Today we were able to improve our pace, put in some good laps and be more consistent, which is positive. We also worked on the front end of the bike with a new fork, trying to improve the feeling and corner entry. Tomorrow we will work on the rear, to see if we can find a bit more grip. That is an important factor at this track, because you spent a lot of time leaned over and I’m sure that any improvement would be notable.”
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