Marquez rockets to Q2 with sixth fastest time
Fully focused on the weekend at hand, Marc Marquez earned passage directly to Q2 with an impressive sixth in on Friday. Repsol Honda Team teammate Joan Mir, within a second of Marquez.
1.5 seconds split 22 of the riders on the MotoGP World Championship grid as Friday’s action came to a close in Misano. Hot temperatures kept the entirety of the field working hard as they pushed for faster and faster times, the outright lap record falling during the afternoon session.
Marc Marquez continued to make headlines during the Gran Premio Red Bull di San Marino e Della Riviera as he took sixth overall. A best time of 1’31.217 means that the eight-time World Champion will automatically qualify inside the top 12, achieving his first goal of the weekend already. But Marquez is still looking for more as he aims to improve his feeling on the Honda RC213V and ride in a more natural way.
The other side of the Repsol Honda Team garage saw Joan Mir make steady improvements over Friday’s two sessions. Ultimately finishing with a best time of 1’32.141, Mir was just over half a second from a spot in the top ten. Big improvements came as the day progressed, especially with turning and the #36 was left content with the work he and the team achieved – even if his final position on the timing sheet did not fully reflect it.
Tomorrow presents both Repsol Honda Team riders with another chance to continue making improvements and closing the distance to the front. Action resumes at 10:10 Local Time before riders switch their attention to a single flying lap in Qualifying.
Marc Marquez
“Ultimately today was a positive day because we achieved our target for the weekend: qualifying in the top 12. I need to keep on working on my feeling with the bike, it’s still not quite there but we were able to do the lap time. It was a calm day because at the start I was not getting the feedback from the bike, the tyres, the track that I wanted but we worked to improve it. In the last part of the afternoon session, I really pushed for a time and we were able to make a step, especially with used tyres. I then got a good lap behind Dani – he was super-fast. Tomorrow is another day.”
Joan Mir
“The day started a bit more difficult than what we thought. I started today with the base from Montmelo and I was struggling with turning but we kept working and the feeling improved. We made a big step and I think I had a 31.7 in me if we were able to put a whole lap together without yellow flags etc. Then if you can catch another rider for the slipstream, you gain even more time and are able to challenge for the top ten. Our situation is better than what the results show and overall we take it as a positive day because we understood a lot.”
Friday Practice - San Marino Grand Prix
Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Team | Constructor | Time/Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Bezzecchi Marco | 72 | ITA | Mooney VR46 Racing Team | Ducati | 1'30.846 |
2 | Vinales Maverick | 12 | SPA | Aprilia Racing | Aprilia | 0.126 |
3 | Pedrosa Dani | 26 | SPA | KTM Test Team | KTM | 0.255 |
4 | Martin Jorge | 89 | SPA | Pramac Racing | Ducati | 0.331 |
5 | Marini Luca | 10 | ITA | Mooney VR46 Racing Team | Ducati | 0.341 |
6 | Marquez Marc | 93 | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 0.371 |
7 | Bagnaia Francesco | 1 | ITA | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati | 0.374 |
8 | Marquez Alex | 73 | SPA | Team Gresini Racing MotoGP | Ducati | 0.401 |
9 | Binder Brad | 33 | RSA | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | 0.410 |
10 | Fernandez Raul | 25 | SPA | RNF MotoGP Team | Aprilia | 0.690 |
11 | Espargaro Pol | 44 | SPA | Tech3 GASGAS Factory Racing | KTM | 0.714 |
12 | Espargaro Aleix | 41 | SPA | Aprilia Racing | Aprilia | 0.773 |
13 | Quartararo Fabio | 20 | FRA | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | 0.798 |
14 | Morbidelli Franco | 21 | ITA | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | 0.864 |
15 | Bradl Stefan | 6 | GER | HRC Test Team | Honda | 0.869 |
16 | Pirro Michele | 51 | ITA | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati | 0.897 |
17 | Miller Jack | 43 | AUS | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | 0.935 |
18 | Zarco Johann | 5 | FRA | Pramac Racing | Ducati | 0.939 |
19 | Di Giannantonio Fabio | 49 | ITA | Team Gresini Racing MotoGP | Ducati | 0.975 |
20 | Nakagami Takaaki | 30 | JPN | LCR Honda | Honda | 1.261 |
21 | Mir Joan | 36 | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 1.295 |
22 | Oliveira Miguel | 88 | POR | RNF MotoGP Team | Aprilia | 1.508 |
23 | Fernandez Augusto | 37 | SPA | Tech3 GASGAS Factory Racing | KTM | 1.767 |
24 | Takahashi Takumi | 7 | JPN | LCR Honda | Honda | 5.040 |
Location Information
Close to the city of Rimini, the Misano Adriático circuit was constructed in 1972 and has since undergone an array of modifications. A regular scene for Italian Grands Prix throughout the 80s and early 90s, Misano returned to the MotoGP calendar in 2007.With updated facilities, track and grandstands, the Misano… read more.
Length | 4.226 kilometres / 2.626 miles |
Width | 14 metres |
Left corners | 6 |
Right corners | 10 |
Longest straight | 0.565 kilometres / 0.351 miles |
Constructed | 1969 |
Modified | 2008 |
Misano World Circuit "Marco Simoncelli", Via Daijiro Kato, Misano Adriatico, Rimini, Italy - View in Google Maps
Records
Pole Position | 1m30.031 (168.9 km/h) Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati, 2024) |
Race Lap | 1m30.877s (167.4km/h) Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati, 2024) |
Race Time | 41m14.653s (165.9 km/h) Enea Bastianini (Ducati, 2024) |
2024 Sprint Winner | Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) |
2024 Race Winner | Enea Bastianini (Ducati) |