Márquez: "Today I have noticed something special with the bike"

February 11, 2022

Mandalika.- The rider from Honda only finished 17th on the time sheet, but completed 64 laps in his process of ‘getting to know’ the new Honda RC213V, and making the bike his own, all on a complicated day, as it was the first contact with the new circuit and the conditions, in the first hours, were not the best.

“It was a typical day on a new circuit. The track was very dirty and it was very difficult to find the good lines. There is a black line that you have to follow. It is interesting. I like sectors 1 and 4. The second sector is very fast and you have to take a deep breath before you get there. It’s not a very difficult track, but it will be fun”, explained Marc Márquez at the end of the day, after stopping the clock in 1.33.776, 1.3 from the reference set by his teammate, Pol Espargaro.

The day did not start well, the rain of the night and the first turns of the bikes filled the asphalt with mud and dirt.

“We talked a bit about what to do when we go out to ride in the wet. The race commission (Carlos Ezpeleta and Franco Uncini) came and asked me what I thought, if I wanted the trucks to go out,” explained Marc. “I told them that the best thing was go out and roll, but of course, nobody wanted to do it. I was one of the first to go out because, with the truck, all you do is move the dirt from one place to another, “argued #93.

“The right decision was made, which was that before three you had to do 20 laps, and that helped a lot. In the end, the track became normal, as long as you didn’t go off the line. If you go a little too far you have to leave it, because the risk is too high”, was the assessment of the Honda rider, different from that of other riders, who like Aleix Espargaró did not agree.

On the sporting front, Márquez is coming off a three-month hiatus due to an eye injury and is still in the process of finishing repairs to his right arm ailment. That, coupled with the fact that the RC213V is brand new, presents a challenge for him.

“Today was the first day that I noticed something special. In (the test in) Malaysia I was fast but I didn’t finish feeling good with the Honda. This time I did feel the bike. We’ll see with the two remaining days. I would like to have two or three more tests,” he added.

Marc was one of those who lapped the most in the morning, in the most complicated circumstances, even leading the time sheet, but in the afternoon he lapped less and did not attack the time at any time.

“It’s true that I did a lot of laps in the morning, but in the afternoon I told the team to relax, that I couldn’t keep up that pace. I was already beginning to feel tired. We still have two days to survive,” warned the man from Cervera.

Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team