Honda’s Marc Marquez was denied a third successive pole position by just 0.049s in today’s qualifying from Jerez, but is nonetheless happy with his performance having struggled for single lap pace so far this weekend.
The Spanish rider has largely ridden in the shadow of team-mate Dani Pedrosa for much of this weekend, Marquez only taking to the top of the timesheets in the fourth free practice session on Saturday.
Marquez came out of the blocks swinging when QP2 got underway, the Honda rider shooting to the top of the standings with a 1m38.300s on his first flying lap. Marquez proceeded to switch bike twice, and slotted in behind Pedrosa on his third run to see if he could learn where his team-mate was gaining.
“Dani has been really strong and fast today, and weekend honestly,” said Marquez.
“For that reason, I tried to follow him during the final laps in qualifying, to learn what he was doing differently.
“I was able to do a very good lap time and that was my target, to get a front row start because I have been struggling a bit here with the fast lap.”
A small mistake rounding the fast right of Turn 12 on his final attempt cost him crucial time, which ultimately saw him miss out on pole. Marquez took the chequered flag with a 1m38.298s to put his RC213V second on the grid for tomorrow’s 27-lap grand prix.
The 4.4km Jerez circuit is one that has tended to work against Marquez and Honda, though focused improvements throughout practice have seemingly reversed this tradition, a decent race run in FP4 proof of this.
This has the five-time world champion feeling not only confident ahead of the race, but also for the remainder of the European season.
“I’m happy because it looks like we’re getting better and better,” he added.
“Today in FP4 we were able to set a very good pace and we’re very satisfied with that. Normally this circuit is not one of the best for our bike and for my riding style, but it looks like our plans are working well.
“We’re improving in the areas we are working on, and that’s also important in view of the coming races at the other European tracks.
“Anyway, now we must think about tomorrow; race day is always different, but we’ll try to manage well.”
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