Marc Marquez was in high spirits after capping off a successful weekend with the second fastest time in Monday’s post-race test at Brno. The world champion took a dominant victory on Sunday after an inspired strategy call and was only pipped to the fastest time on Monday by a late flyer from Valentino Rossi.
After experimenting with a number of set-up options, Marquez is now looking forward to the Austrian Grand Prix this weekend as he looks to extend his championship lead.
“I’m very happy with today. I had a good feeling on the bike as soon as I got on to the track. Today’s fresh temperature combined with the good conditions of the asphalt allowed us to easily make some very good lap times; we have been very competitive on race pace. We tried several things on our bike’s race setup as it was the perfect day to understand the various settings, also in view of the next GPs. We worked on electronics and we also tried a new front Michelin tyre. We leave from here having made a few improvements and with a few ideas to try in Austria.”
Repsol Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa was seventh quickest but admitted he hadn’t attempted a fast lap on lower fuel and new tyres and was generally pleased with the day’s work.
“Today we worked a lot on several little details we want to improve on our bike setup, aiming to be more comfortable during the race weekend. We tried a few mappings looking to get a better control on the throttle, besides some different setups for the front fork. We made some steps forward compared to the last time we worked in those areas, though we need to work more on them. We tried some Michelin tyres for future races. The track conditions were good and the grip increased more and more over the day but we did not go for a time attack, preferring to concentrate on the setup of our bike. The team did a good job and in general it was a positive day.”
