Tricky first day in Catalunya for the Repsol Honda Team
Under incredibly hot temperatures, the GP of Catalunya got underway today.
It was a strange day with the Repsol Honda Riders, Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa, working hard to find the best setting on their RCV213V Hondas. This morning when the air temperature was 31ºC and the track 44ºC, Dani finished 6th with his lap of 1’42.664 (lap 5/18) and Championship leader, Marc, only able to manage seventh with 1’42.742 (lap 8/19).
This afternoon, temperatures rose to 34ºC (air) and 55ºC (track) and Marc was able to improve by half a second using the hard option front and rear tyres finishing third in the session and fourth for the day with 1’42.274 (lap 8/19). Dani was not able to better his morning time which he recorded on soft option front and rear tyres. He finished tenth for the session (1’43.078 on lap 6/17) and ninth for the day in the combined times.
Marc Marquez
"Despite not being at the top today, I am happy with how this first day of practice for the Catalan Grand Prix went and I've made good progress. In the first session I found things a little difficult, but in the second session we improved and this has led to us having a clear direction to go in tomorrow. I think this is the most important thing to take from today."
Dani Pedrosa
"The good news is that I was able to ride better today than in Mugello. I hope that with a few more laps under my belt I will loosen up even more, and things will go even better. This afternoon we tried out the larger brake discs, which react better and mean that you need to use the brake lever a little differently with your fingers, which is something I am getting used to. We also worked with the hard tyre compound on the front and the rear, and I was able to use them for the entire afternoon session."
Location Information
In 1989, through the joint collaboration of the Catalan Autonomous Government, the Montmeló Town Council and the Royal Automobile Club of Catalunya (RACC), work began on giving one of Europe’s most beautiful cities a state of the art race track to match. The Circuit de Catalunya opened on the doorstep… read more.
| Length | 4.627 kilometres / 2.875 miles |
| Width | 12 metres |
| Left corners | 5 |
| Right corners | 8 |
| Longest straight | 1.047 kilometres / 0.651 miles |
| Constructed | 1991 |
| Modified | 2018 |
Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Montmeló, Catalunya, Spain - View in Google Maps
Records
| Pole Position | 1m38.639s (169.9km/h) Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati, 2023) |
| Race Lap | 1m39.939 (167.7km/h) Johann Zarco (Ducati, 2021) |
| Race Time | 40'21.749 (166.1km/h) Miguel Oliveira (KTM, 2021) |
| 2023 Sprint Winner | Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia) |
| 2023 Race Winner | Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia) |
