Rookie Alex Marquez struggles on first Honda test drive
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| Alex Marquez |
Action resumed at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo as 2020 began in earnest with the traditional post-season test with the MotoGP 2020 riders.
Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli have made a flying start to the 2020 MotoGP World Championship, finishing day one of pre-season action for PETRONAS Yamaha Sepang Racing Team in first and third at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo.
Marc Marquez began his 2020 title defense two days after clinching a sensational 12th win of 2019. Starting early, Marc began to work through a busy day in Valencia. Just after 1PM Local Time he suffered a fall at Turn 13 but was unharmed and returned to running just after lunch. Completing a total of 60 laps, the reigning World Champion enjoyed a productive day and finished fifth fastest with a 1’30.698.
The opening day of testing saw Moto2 World Champion Alex Marquez try the new RC213V for the first time. Alex was victim to a harmless crash at Turn 10 on lap eight of the morning. Able to return to track just before lunch, Alex completed 53 laps on his debut as an HRC rider with a fastest time of 1’32.873 on his penultimate lap.
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| Alex Marquez |
Marc Marquez
“I’m happy with how today went overall, we had our first contact with the 2020 bike and started to understand it. I had a strange crash on my out lap from the box but there weren’t any issues on the bike. Tomorrow we will concentrate on some other areas to understand some more things. It will be another busy day but I am looking forward to continuing our work so the team can work on our feedback over winter."
Alex Marquez
“First I want to say thank you to Honda for this opportunity to join them as the Moto2 World Champion. Each lap we were able to improve which is important and I was able to enjoy my time on the bike. I’m very happy, it has been a positive day for me apart from the rookie mistake I made in the first run. My rhythm was quite good, and I know where I need to improve and focus on for tomorrow. The plan for tomorrow is to just make more laps so I can understand the bike better, learn how to manage it more."
Valencia Test Day 1
| Pos. | Rider | Num | Nat | Team | Make | Time/Gap |
| 1 | Quartararo Fabio | 20 | FRA | Petronas Yamaha SRT | Yamaha | 1'30.163 |
| 2 | Vinales Maverick | 12 | SPA | Monster Energy Yamaha | Yamaha | 0.164 |
| 3 | Morbidelli Franco | 21 | ITA | Petronas Yamaha SRT | Yamaha | 0.487 |
| 4 | Dovizioso Andrea | 4 | ITA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 0.502 |
| 5 | Marquez Marc | 93 | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 0.535 |
| 6 | Mir Joan | 36 | SPA | Team Suzuki Ecstar | Suzuki | 0.648 |
| 7 | Rins Alex | 42 | SPA | Team Suzuki Ecstar | Suzuki | 0.795 |
| 8 | Espargaro Pol | 44 | SPA | Red Bull KTM Factory | KTM | 0.811 |
| 9 | Rossi Valentino | 46 | ITA | Monster Energy Yamaha | Yamaha | 0.849 |
| 10 | Miller Jack | 43 | AUS | Pramac Racing | Ducati | 0.967 |
| 11 | Crutchlow Cal | 35 | GBR | LCR Honda | Honda | 1.020 |
| 12 | Petrucci Danilo | 9 | ITA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 1.270 |
| 13 | Lecouna Iker | 27 | SPA | Red Bull KTM Tech 3 | KTM | 1.482 |
| 14 | Iannone Andrea | 29 | ITA | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | Aprilia | 1.511 |
| 15 | Rabat Tito | 53 | SPA | Reale Avintia Racing | Ducati | 1.612 |
| 16 | Espargaro Aleix | 41 | SPA | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | Aprilia | 1.652 |
| 17 | Pedrosa Dani | 26 | SPA | KTM Test Team | KTM | 1.700 |
| 18 | Pirro Michele | 51 | ITA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 1.853 |
| 19 | Abraham Karel | 17 | CZE | Reale Avintia Racing | Ducati | 1.871 |
| 20 | Smith Bradley | 38 | GBR | Aprilia Racing Test Team | Aprilia | 1.927 |
| 21 | Binder Brad | RSA | Red Bull KTM Factory | KTM | 2.482 | |
| 22 | Bradl Stefan | 6 | GER | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 2.670 |
| 23 | Marquez Alex | 73 | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 2.710 |