Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa have enjoyed a positive start to round seven of the MotoGP Championship in Barcelona, finishing 2nd and 3rd after the first day of free practice.

With fantastic weather adorning the Catalunya track, the Repsol Honda duo finished this morning’s FP1 session first and second and carried this form into this afternoon’s FP2, improving their setup and subsequently their times. Only Aleix Espargaro was able to top them in the time sheets after his final lap, completed on the Bridgestone soft tyre that factory teams do not have access to.

Marc, who tested a new exhaust today, recorded a total of 18 laps, taking his best time of 1’41.443 on lap 17, placing him 2nd for the day. Dani worked on tyres and swing arm comparison and finished just behind him in 3rd with his time of 1’41.789 on lap 18 of 19.

Marc Marquez

2nd 1'41.443 [lap 17/18]

"I'm happy because I felt pretty good on the bike. We are working with a focus on the second part of the race, because at this track the tyres degrade a lot, but it’s the same for everyone. We did some tests and it seems that we have solved a few of the problems we have had, but we must continue with this because I still don’t feel quite right. However, I think we have definitely taken a step forward. That is the important thing: Improving and getting increasingly closer to the top time. Anyway, we still have work to do to prepare the second part of the race when tyres drop down."

Dani Pedrosa

3rd 1'41.789 [lap 18/19]

"Thankfully the track dried after yesterday’s rain and we made the most of this to work a lot with the tyres. The asphalt was not in ideal condition but we tried some changes to the setup for the rear; tomorrow we will continue to see if we can improve both on the entry and exit of corners. Today we put on both the hard tyre and the soft compound and, although the grip was not perfect, both are very similar and there is not much difference, this will be key for the race. I also tested two different swing arms, and we will decide which one we will use after checking carefully the data, as both have pluses and minuses."

MotoGP 2015
Practice Round 7   Catalunya

Results Session

Dry
Humidity
57%
Track Temp
40°C
Air Temp
27°C
Pos. Rider Num Nation Team Constructor Time/Gap
MotoGP 2015

Rider standings

Pos. Rider Num Nation Points Team Constructor
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

www.circuitcat.com

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)