Repsol Honda's Marquez & Pedrosa Inside Top-5 on Day 1 of MotoGP Round 4 in Jerez

Press Release www.repsolhondateam.com Gran Premio de España Round 4 - Friday, May 2nd 2014   Spain - Practice Report Weather conditions Sunny 31°C Air temp 49°C Track temp 26% Humidity Positive start for Marquez and Pedrosa on day one in Jerez Under blisteringly hot weather conditions in Spain, both riders went out on track this morning looking for the best setup for the twisty Andalusian track. Both Marc and Dani spent the morning session on the soft rear Bridgestone tyre, as the track was still quite ‘green’ and the asphalt just 24ºC. As temperatures rose in the afternoon – air by 10ºC to 31ºC, and track to 49ºC – both riders took the opportunity to use the medium compound rear tyre. Marc was able to improve slightly on his morning time by 0.092s with a time of 1’39.757 on his third lap of eighteen, placing him fastest in FP2 and third fastest for the day. Dani didn’t improve in the afternoon (fastest time in FP2 1’40.491) and his time of 1’39.860 from the morning placed him fourth fastest for the day. Team Quotes 3rd - 1'39.757 "Today was a positive first day at a track where I had a lot of difficulty last year. It seems as if this year we are at the same level as the faster riders like Dani, Lorenzo and Rossi right from the start, and this is obviously important. With that accomplished, we have also tried to work on things, but it was much easier to set a fast lap and pace this morning, than when the temperatures rose this afternoon. I think that everyone had grip issues, due to the track temperatures reaching 50 degrees. Tomorrow, we will try to take another step forward and work towards qualifying and the race” 4th - 1'39.860 "I think that today went well, but we also need to work hard because of the track conditions. It is a lot different riding in the morning compared to in the afternoon, and in both cases there is not sufficient grip. In any case, the race takes place in the afternoon and we will have to work to make sure that the heat has as little effect as possible on performance” practice results   Gran Premio de España - Round 4 Pos. Rider Num. Nation Team Constructor Time/Gap 1 Aleix Espargaro 41 ESP NGM Mobile Forward Racing YAMAHA 1'39.357 2 Jorge Lorenzo 99 ESP Yamaha Factory Racing YAMAHA 1'39.714 3 Marc Marquez 93 ESP Repsol Honda Team HONDA 1'39.757 4 Dani Pedrosa 26 ESP Repsol Honda Team HONDA 1'39.860 5 Andrea Dovizioso 4 ITA Ducati Team DUCATI 1'40.028 6 Valentino Rossi 46 ITA Yamaha Factory YAMAHA 1'40.125 7 Alvaro Bautista 19 ESP Go & Fun Honda Gresini HONDA 1'40.560 8 Stefan Bradl 6 GER LCR Honda MotoGP HONDA 1'40.644 9 Yonny Hernandez 68 COL Pramac Racing DUCATI 1'40.686 10 Andrea Iannone 29 ITA Pramac Racing DUCATI 1'40.742 11 Bradley Smith 38 GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA 1'40.758 12 Nicky Hayden 69 USA Drive M7 Aspar HONDA 1'40.788 13 Pol Espargaro 44 ESP Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA 1'41.918 14 Michele Pirro 51 ITA Ducati Team DUCATI 1'40.924 15 Hector Barbera 8 ESP Avintia Racing MotoGP FTR-KAWASAKI 1'40.928 16 Hiroshi Aoyama 7 JPN Drive M7 Aspar HONDA 1'41.183 17 Colin Edwards 5 USA NGM Mobile Forward Racing YAMAHA 1'41.252 18 Cal Crutchlow 35 GBR Ducati Team DUCATI 1'41.353 19 Scott Redding 45 GBR Go & Fun Honda Gresini HONDA 1'41.374 20 Karel Abraham 17 CZE Cardion AB Motoracing HONDA 1'41.578 21 Danilo Petrucci 9 ITA IodaRacing Project IODA-SUTER 1'41.589 22 Michael Laverty 70 GBR Paul Bird Motorsport ART & PBM 1'41.914 23 Broc Parkes 23 AUS Paul Bird Motorsport PBM 1'42.171 24 Mike Di Meglio 63 FRA Avintia Racing MotoGP FTR-KAWASAKI 1'42.220 Copyright Free Images - For Editorial use only                                               Circuit Information View circuit page at www.repsolhondateam.com Length 4.423 m / 2.748 miles Width 11m Left corners 5 Right corners 8 Longest straight 607 m / 0.377 miles Constructed 1986 Modified 2002     Jerez Motor Racing Track Carretera Jerez – Arcos, kilómetro 10 11405 Jerez de la Frontera (Cádiz) info@circuitodejerez.com Tel: +34 956151100 Fax: +34 956151105   www.circuitodejerez.com   Pole Position 1m 38.189s (162.164km/h) Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha, 2008) Race Lap 1m 39.731s (159.657km/h) Dani Pedrosa (Honda, 2010) Race Time 45m 17.538s (158.200km/h) Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha, 2010) 2012 Race Winner Casey Stoner (Honda) 2013 Race Winner Dani Pedrosa (Honda)   Honda Racing Corporation 3-15-1, Senzui, Asaka-shi, Saitama-Pref., 351-0024 Japan