The Frenchman, leader of the general table of points, was less than a tenth of the time that placed Jorge Martín in the lead, in this first day of rehearsals.
Quartararo is playing for the crown with Pecco Bagnaia and Aleix Espargaró, who are 30 points behind and 33 behind him, respectively. While the Italian has a legion of Ducati at his disposal, the speed recently exhibited by Maverick Viñales could play decisively in favor of Espargaró.
Quartararo, for his part, is more alone than one o’clock, given the abyss between him and the rest of the Yamaha riders. It is at this point that the reappearance of Marc Márquez can play a key role in resolving this championship, always depending on the ability of the Honda rider to ride in the leading positions. For #20 there is no doubt: Márquez has returned in all his dimension.
“I already said on Thursday that Marc will fight for the victory on Sunday. I’m not surprised because we already know how it is. In the Misano test he was six tenths off the best time after the rest of the grid had completed a grand prix”, agreed Quartararo. “What impresses me most about him is his mentality. In two years he has had very important injuries. I think that many people, many athletes, can take Marc as a reference precisely because of how strong he is with his head”, added the boy from Nice.
The Devil’s second place is a very good result if we take into account the profile of this track on the outskirts of Alcañiz and the lack of top speed of the Yamaha he is driving. The current champion incorporated a new chassis in his M1 and everything seems to indicate that he will continue with it for, at least, the rest of the end of a weekend in which he hopes to be able to stop the hemorrhage of points (61) that he has been losing in the last four appointments with respect to Bagnaia.
“ The new chassis does not differ too much from the old one. I think we’ll keep it, because we didn’t find any negative aspects”, resolved Quartararo, who insisted that this Saturday’s qualifying session will be absolutely decisive for him, given the problems to overtake that his prototype generates: “The problem is not being fast, but be fast in the race. That means being able to overtake. You can be slower in pace and fight for the win if they have the speed to overtake. We have to start on the front line.”
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