The second day of MotoGP testing at Phillip Island again got off to a wet start, but although varied conditions affected the action until around lunchtime, the afternoon finally featured enough dry, sunny weather (with a maximum air temperature of 23å¡ C and track temperature of 45å¡ C) that the riders were able to carry out a decent amount of work.
Repsol Honda‰Ûªs Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa made the most of the time available, completing 79 and 55 laps, respectively, and both felt they made a positive step in the management of the new unified software compared with the Sepang test.
Marc took to the track on slick tyres at around 11 a.m. and immediately found a good pace while he and his technicians focused on the settings of his RC213V. He remained in the upper part of the timesheets throughout the day, steadily improving his rhythm and finishing a close second, with a best time of 1‰Ûª29.292 that came on lap 78.
‰ÛÏToday we were able to ride in the dry for the entire day, and I think we can draw good conclusions from the testing we did because it seems that here we have found a base setup that can work well," Marquez said.
"It‰Ûªs true that this is a special track, in which you have to be careful about what you test because it might confuse you at other circuits, but I am happy with how the day went overall. We‰Ûªll see if we can continue improving tomorrow, because I still think we can make a lot of progress with the balance of the bike; I still don‰Ûªt feel fully comfortable with it. The team, Honda and I are pushing our hardest and we are getting closer ever day‰Û
