Both riders of the Repsol Honda Team improved during the second day in Italy. The late runs again showed their progress. The thoughts throughout Saturday at the Gran Premio d’Italia Oakley were with Jason Dupasquier after his serious crash during Moto3 qualifying.
Marc Marquez saved himself until later in the sessions when he tackled the physical demands of Mugello on Saturday. Free Practice 3 was another consistent session that Marquez was able to ride comfortably until the # 93 moved up to 12th in the final moments, just half a second behind the fastest rider in the session and less than 0.150 seconds off a top -Ten place away on the combined times. As always, the tactic came out in the first quarter and Marquez played it perfectly to get through the session as the fastest driver and join teammate Espargaro in the second quarter. Marquez would wait until the second half of the session to join the action on the track and leave the pit lane with six minutes of session remaining to save his physical condition. The eight-time world champion starts as 11th.
Another late lap boost from Pol Espargaro put the Repsol Honda Team rider in the top ten in the final minutes of Free Practice 3, ending a very positive first session of the day. The decisive factor was that his 1’45.858 was good enough for ninth place overall and that Espargaro guaranteed himself and the team a top 12 starting position with a direct drive to the second quarter. Free Practice 4 helped Espargaro and his side of the garage sort out some final changes to his RC213V before qualifying. Rear grip improved in both training sessions. Espargaro was pleased with the progress in this area.
The 15-minute session did not go according to plan for Espargaro. The Granollers native felt that a different tire choice would have moved him up one row. Espargaro will start from 12th place on the grid tomorrow. A good start and start at Turn 1 are essential to get early positions and try to stay with the leading group.
The warm-up for the Italian GP starts on Sunday, May 30th at 09:40. The lights for the 23-lap race go out at 2:00 p.m. local time. HRC and the entire Repsol Honda Team wish Jason Dupasquier all the best and hope to see him back on track soon.