Marc Marquez pulled out all the stops this time and wanted to use the test day in Barcelona from the first to the last minute to test Honda’s innovations and also to put his body to the test. The 87 completed laps were the proof in the pudding.
“I am exhausted‘ he said smiling. “Today I suffered but I needed a day like this just to ride. I tried things, but what mattered to me was laps, lap after lap, and that’s how it went. It wasn’t too bad at first, but in the afternoon I preferred not to push and just ride. Now it’s time to rest and move forward in terms of physical condition. This day will be important for the future.”
He had an all black bike in the garage, the Laborbike, and he also used low wings similar to those Yamaha’s seen in earlier tests this year.
“One of the things we’ve been working on is the aerodynamics because we have the opportunity to homologate a new one,‘ Marc confirms. “To be honest I felt slight differences but it could be useful to have a fairing that can help us on the faster tracks. I’ve tried many things. I had a “black” bike, but it’s not a prototype. It’s very similar to what I’m driving now, but we need it to review some concepts for the future. We will be back to work in the upcoming Misano tests.”
But everyone wants to know about the laboratory wheel.
“I can’t be more specific or they will kill me!‘ he said jokingly. “The engine is the same. There are just a few balance differences. Every time I got on the track, I made big changes to understand the problem and set the direction. It wasn’t a bad day. I was able to drive better than on the race weekend, that’s positive.”
Pol Espargarò: “We have a lot of problems, I focus on the present and not on the future”
Pol Espargarò also pulled out all the stops, and he had to, as his adaptation to the RC213V turned out to be far more difficult than previously thought.
“It was quite a busy day because I had to try a lot of things to find the problems and more importantly the solutions,” he explained. “There was something that could be useful for the Sachsenring, but until we get there we won’t know for sure.”
Pol needs a quick improvement.
“I focused on the bike I was using over the weekend. Right now I’m thinking more about the present than the future because we have enough problems‘ he stressed. “If we can fix them then the next bike will be a lot quicker and that’s what I’m trying to do and I ended the day feeling good.”