Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa commenced their 2017 MotoGP campaign positively this evening in Qatar, setting the second- and third-fastest lap times, respectively, by the end of a single free-practice session that got underway at 7:55 p.m. local time. The Repsol Honda riders constantly improved their speed throughout the 45 minute stint, with Marc recording his best effort in 1’54.912” on his 17th lap of 18 and Dani setting his fastest time of 1’55.212” on lap 15 of 16.
FP2 and FP3 will begin tomorrow at 6 p.m. and 8:55 p.m. local time, respectively.
Marc Marquez 2ND 1’54.912
“This first day was positive enough because two weeks ago we hadn’t finish the test so well, while today I had a better feeling with the bike. We started with a different setup compared to then and we did a good job. We have some work to do, especially on the electronics side, but that said I’m quite happy. Maverick is really fast but it was to be expected, and on our side we’re working hard in our garage to try and find a good compromise with the setup.”
Dani Pedrosa 3RD 1’55.210
“I’m happy with today. Even if the track conditions and the grip weren’t the best, we tried to push hard in case the weather gets worse tomorrow as the forecast says. It was important to be up front, because everybody is expecting some rain. I’m generally happy and I think we have already gathered a lot of good information. We’ll see how things go and keep working to do our best.”
