Marini and Mir hunt more pace for Saturday in Aragon

The Repsol Honda Team worked to get to grips with the new surface of MotorLand Aragon, concluding the first day in 17th and 21st respectively for Luca Marini and Joan Mir. Both confident of improvements on Saturday.

A familiar layout with an unfamiliar feel awaited Luca Marini and Joan Mir as Friday practice began just outside of Alcaniz at MotorLand Aragon. The freshly resurfaced track gave the riders extra work to do, understanding the ever-changing grip levels as more and more rubber was put down. This all resulted in a tight group on the final timesheets, 15 riders split by a second.

Luca Marini put in two diligent sessions aboard his Repsol Honda Team machine, improving by 2.7 seconds from the morning to the afternoon. Ultimately ending the day with a best time of 1’47.280, the Italian was just four tenths from the top ten and a Q2 spot. It was another day of progress for Marini who continued to assess a handful of items for HRC’s engineers.

Like his teammate, Joan Mir made good progress with his lap time between the two sessions as track conditions improved. Starting the day in 13th, the #36 was hopeful of continuing his speed in the afternoon and challenging for a spot closer to the front. Yellow flags during his final lap of the day meant Mir’s best time was removed and he finished down in 21st. The speed of the other Honda RC213V riderss, and especially Zarco, have Mir remaining optimistic for the remainder of the weekend.

Johann Zarco shone on the Honda RC213V, the LCR Honda Team rider racing directly into Q2 with the eighth fastest time.