Marquez second as pace heats up in Indonesia

A full day of testing at the Mandalika circuit for the Repsol Honda Team produced interesting data and learnings for Marc Marquez, second, and Pol Espargaro, eighth.

After Friday’s interrupted running due to wet weather conditions, the MotoGP paddock’s weather worries were eased as the rain stayed away from the Lombok circuit, despite dark clouds building just behind the back of the circuit. Another day of running continued to improve the track condition as riders began to dip into the 1’31s throughout the day.

Saturday was another day of steady improvements and progress for Marc Marquez on his way to second place on the time sheets. Across the course of 74 laps, the #93 set a best time of 1’31.481 – an improvement of 2.3 seconds over his previous day’s best. Like the rest of the field, his lap came in the closing stages of the day. But Marquez’s finishing position was not important to him, instead enjoying an ever-improving feeling with the bike and in turn an improved ability to produce quick laps.

Pol Espargaro was again busy as he set about his testing plan, completing 76 laps on the second day and setting a best time of 1’31.605. This time came in the closing half an hour of the day as the MotoGP grid switched into time attack mode for the first time this test. Ending the day eighth overall, Espargaro was pleased with his work on the penultimate day of testing – especially with his speed over longer runs.

Sunday in Indonesia marks the end of pre-season testing for the 2022 MotoGP World Championship, tomorrow the last day for the Repsol Honda Team to prepare ahead of the 2022 Qatar GP. Practice for the first race of the year will begin on Friday, March 04.