Alex Marquez and Stefan Bradl kept improving as conditions changed on the opening day of the European GP and the top ten potential showed.
Damp and bleak conditions were the order of the day in Valencia after heavy rains on Thursday. Although dark clouds remained over them, the track slowly dried out over the course of the day, so that the afternoon could run on slicks.
The wet conditions of the morning proved to be no challenge for Alex Marquez on the Repsol Honda RC213V and continued to show the strong form first shown at a wet GP in France. A personal best of 1’42.654 brought the MotoGP rookie to fifth place in the morning. Alex suffered a fall at Turn 6 late in FP1 to avoid injuries and to walk away unharmed. The conditions in the afternoon enabled a significant improvement in lap times. Alex fell to 1’33.570 and finished the day in 16th place overall. Free practice 3 gives Alex and his Repsol Honda team another chance to challenge in the second quarter if the weather cooperates.
Stefan Bradl was immediately impressive in Valencia, the German driver spent almost the entire morning session in the top three. Like his team-mate from the Repsol Honda Team, Bradl continued to drive well in the wet and finished third in race one, half a second behind Miller. Slicks were the order of the day in Free Practice 2 when a dry line emerged. Bradl improved his time by nine seconds in the afternoon.
The campaign will continue with Free Practice 3 on Saturday, November 7th at 10:55 a.m. local time.