Marquez tops standings on day 1 in Catalunya, good pace for Pedrosa
Marc Marquez led both free-practice sessions on the opening day of the Catalan Grand Prix. FP1 started in mixed conditions and the Repsol Honda riders waited for the track to dry off before getting into action in the final minutes and setting the first- and fourth-fastest times.
In the afternoon, Marc and Dani were able to exploit the completely dry track to start working on their RC213V setup for the modified layout of the Montmeló Circuit (with track length shortened from 4.655 km to 4.652 km). They both kept a good pace throughout the session, with Dani also running at the top of the classification before settling for seventh in the end, just around two-and-a-half tenths off a top-three position.
Marc Marquez
“Today I felt pretty good with the bike, as we already had a good base setup from the test we did here two weeks ago. In the afternoon we tried a few changes on the bike during our second run, but ultimately we preferred to go back to the setup from the test. We fit a new tyre and my last run was pretty good. We look forward to trying the hard Michelin rear tyre tomorrow, to understand what’s best for the race because it should be quite a bit warmer and therefore tough on tyres. We’ll try to keep the same level from today. The new track layout is different; the old one was more ‘natural,’ but ultimately it’s the same track and still enjoyable.”
Dani Pedrosa
"It was a bit strange today, as the track conditions were quite challenging compared to the test we did here some days ago, maybe because of this morning’s rain. We need to improve the feeling and the tyre life, as that will be a very important factor for the race. This is one of hardest tracks on the calendar from that point of view, so tomorrow our main target will be working on the setup to improve the consistency of the tyres and the lap times. Regarding the new chicane, we know that there’s a risk of a crashed bike ending up in the middle of the track, but we’ve already spoken about it in the last Safety Commission meeting in Mugello, so we’ll see. Anyway, at least it’s a very slow chicane, so this should make things less dangerous.”
Free Practice Results (Revised)
Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Team | Constructor | Time/Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Marquez Marc | 93 | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 1'44.478 |
2 | Lorenzo Jorge | 99 | SPA | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati | 0.222 |
3 | Folger Jonas | 94 | GER | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 0.361 |
4 | Dovizioso Andrea | 4 | ITA | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati | 0.405 |
5 | Petrucci Danilo | 9 | ITA | Octo Pramac Racing | Ducati | 0.412 |
6 | Zarco Johann | 5 | FRA | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 0.585 |
7 | Pedrosa Dani | 26 | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 0.620 |
8 | Bautista Alvaro | 19 | SPA | Pull&Bear Aspar Team | Ducati | 0.638 |
9 | Rossi Valentino | 46 | ITA | Movistar Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | 0.640 |
10 | Barbera Hector | 8 | SPA | Esponsorama Racing | Ducati | 0.833 |
11 | Redding Scott | 45 | GBR | Octo Pramac Racing | Ducati | 0.897 |
12 | Iannone Andrea | 29 | ITA | Team Suzuki Ecstar | Suzuki | 0.987 |
13 | Espargaro Aleix | 41 | SPA | Aprilia Racing | Aprilia | 1.076 |
14 | Baz Loris | 76 | FRA | Esponsorama Racing | Ducati | 1.277 |
15 | Lowes Sam | 22 | GBR | Aprilia Racing | Aprilia | 1.282 |
16 | Vinales Maverick | 25 | SPA | Movistar Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | 1.332 |
17 | Miller Jack | 43 | AUS | Marc VDS Racing Team | Honda | 1.390 |
18 | Abraham Karel | 17 | CZE | Pull&Bear Aspar Team | Ducati | 1.454 |
19 | Crutchlow Cal | 35 | GBR | LCR Honda | Honda | 1.489 |
20 | Rabat Tito | 53 | SPA | Marc VDS Racing Team | Honda | 1.751 |
21 | Espargaro Pol | 44 | SPA | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | Yamaha | 2.468 |
22 | Guintoli Sylvain | 50 | FRA | Team Suzuki Ecstar | Suzuki | 2.524 |
23 | Smith Bradley | 38 | GBR | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | 3.414 |
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 | 1m38.742s (169.7km/h) Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia, 2022) |
Race Lap | 1m39.939 (167.7km/h) Johann Zarco (Ducati, 2021) |
Race Time | 40'21.749 (166.1km/h) Miguel Oliveira (KTM, 2021) |
2022 Race Winner | Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) |