In a close battle for pole, Marc Marquez is in second place in the last lap of the year with Lorenzo hunting points from 16th.
The four-kilometer Valencia Circuit continued to produce some of the tightest sessions of the year in less than 1.5 seconds that regularly split the top 15. Even in conditions that were barely in the double digits in the morning, the drivers pushed hard to secure the top ten spot in RP3. Marquez suffered a harmless fall at Turn 4, five minutes before the end of Free Practice 4. He got up quickly and returned to the garage to end the session on his second bike.
In qualifying, the 2019 MotoGP world champion fought for pole and finished second in the session, his 1’30.010 was just 0.032 seconds behind pole-setter Fabio Quartararo. But with a strong race pace throughout the weekend, Marquez remains confident to fight for the podium and help Honda win the team championship again. Marquez chases his 12th win out of 19 rounds in 2019.
With a steady Friday, Jorge Lorenzo was determined to make further progress and narrow the gap to the top of the timesheets even further. Lorenzo improved his best lap time of the weekend in RP3 by half a second and was able to maintain his position in the top 15 on the way to the first quarter. With a 1’31.295 he will be in 16th place in his last MotoGP race. Lorenzo’s goal for Sunday is to help the Repsol Honda team win the team championship and complete the 2019 Triple Crown.
To secure the Triple Crown, the Repsol Honda Team must outperform the Ducati Team by two or more points in Sunday’s race. The Valencia 27-lap GP is expected to start at 2:00 p.m. local time, as the lights will go out for the last time in 2019.