Marquez Tops FP1 Whilst Suzuki Shine

Jun 12, 2015
2 min read

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Repsol Honda Team rider Marc Marquez led the way in the opening session of the Catalan Grand Prix weekend. Marquez topped the session towards the end of the 45-minutes with a 1:41.808 on an updated RC213V. HRC have brought a new exhaust and some electronic updates to try and quell the aggressive nature of the RCV's engine. Team-mate Dani Pedrosa was 2nd quickest with a 1:42.018, with the updates seeming to suit him a lot more as he put in some very consistent runs. More impressively, Pedrosa's time was set on the hard rear tyre whereas Marquez set his best on the medium rear. Expect Dani to come on a little stronger when he fits his softer option tyre.

The RC213V still looked a handful despite both factory riders leading the way. Marquez ran wide at turn ten on his fastest lap and then did the same at turn five on his next tour, suggesting the bike is still too much under engine-braking. So I'm not convinced by Honda's pace at the moment; I think the race will show a very different story.

Aleix Espargaro was 3rd after a very good morning for Suzuki. The team have brought some engine updates in a bid to squeeze some horsepower out of the GSX-RR. Still down on the likes of the Ducati and the Honda, Aleix sat atop the time sheets for much of the session, so there is definitely some more power being put down especially punching out of the corners. Where the GSX-RR excels is through the corners, and the new engine updates have done nothing to the cornering ability of the bike. Espargaro topped the individual sector times through the final three splits. Maverick Vinales was a very respectable 5th. Both riders set their best times on the medium tyre also, so Suzuki are definitely ones to watch come Sunday.

Yamaha got off to a slow start with Jorge Lorenzo 4th and Valentino Rossi 8th. But that isn't anything out of the ordinary and the team will be up there come Sunday.

Ducati also didn't get off to the best of starts. Andrea Dovizioso was 9th and Andrea Iannone 11th – the latter of whom running wide at turn ten right at the start of the session. Pramac Ducati's Yonny Hernandez was top Desmosedici rider in 6th.

Nicky Hayden was a surprise 7th on the open Aspar Honda RC213V-RS. Seems unlikely that this is totally representative of what the team can achieve this weekend, but it does point to a definite QP2 spot if conditions do worsen today and tomorrow, or if they do have to go through QP1.

FP1 Top 10:

1st Marc Marquez, Respol Honda Team, 1:41.808

2nd Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda Team, 1:42.018

3rd Aleix Espargaro, Team Suzuki Ecstar, 1:42.183

4th Jorge Lorenzo, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP, 1:42.458

5th Maverick Vinales, Team Suzuki Ecstar, 1:42.553

6th Yonny Hernandez, Octo Pramac Racing Ducati, 1:42.594

7th Nicky Hayden, Aspar MotoGP Team Honda, 1:42.623

8th Valentino Rossi, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP, 1:42.938

9th Andrea Dovizioso, Ducati Team, 1:42.945

10th Cal Crutchlow, CWM LCR Honda, 1:42.957

Full results can be found here: