Marquez yet to 'arrive at the limit', Mandalika circuit 'really fast'
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On a day where unpredictable weather clouded MotoGP’ first ever visit to Mandalika, eight-time world champion Marc Marquez finished day-one of testing in 17th position. Despite heavy rain and an early red-flag that was deployed in order to clean the track, representative lap times began to take shape come the end of the day. A late flurry of improvements from most of the grid saw Marquez, who was inside the top ten for much of the day, relegated to P17 while team-mate Pol Espargaro went fastest by over four tenths. Should track conditions continue to improve over the weekend, then a significant imporvement regarding lap times will take place, which in-turn will see Marquez ride closer to the limit, something he chose not to do during today’s running. Related Mandalika MotoGP Test Results, Indonesia – Friday, Day 1 (2pm) LCR Honda unveil 2022 MotoGP colours for Alex MarquezAsked where he feels strongest around the new Indonesian circuit, Marquez added: “Well, still I didn’t push enough to arrive at the limit. T1 I like it, I really like it. T3 is also a nice sector and also T4. “T2 I don’t like [laughs], it’s too fast. I mean it’s true that you are there and you just have to go. But it is really fast and there are still some bumps in the corner. If you take a big risk you can gain a lot of time. But at the moment, we need to keep calm.”Related Honda: ‘New concepts are from the riders’, relationship with Marc ‘really easy’ Puig: Honda committed to Pol Espargaro, rumours about future ‘zero importance’Like the Sepang test last weekend, conditions proved incredibly humid and energy-sapping, which was especially the case for Marquez who remains close, but not yet at 100% full fitness.The Spaniard’s reduced workload in the afternoon despite track conditions getting better was about ‘surviving’ the next two days. “I started the day with energy, I did many laps, many laps in a row to try and understand the track, the lines,” said the Repsol Honda rider. “4”But then already in the afternoon I said to the team, ‘let’s cool down and breath a little bit more in the box’. “In the afternoon the track was in a better way. We started to ride less but try bigger things because I need to survive tomorrow and Sunday.”
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