Cookie Consent by Free Privacy Policy website Second and fourth row starts for Marquez and Espargaro in Austria
agosto 15, 2021 - Honda Racing

Second and fourth row starts for Marquez and Espargaro in Austria

Comunicato Stampa disponibile solo in lingua originale. 

The second Qualifying day in two weeks saw lap records smashed as the #motogp field battled it out for pole, #marcmarquez and #polespargaro both improving their times and grid positions over last weekend.

Saturday at the Red Bull Ring started well for the Repsol Honda Team as both #marcmarquez and #polespargaro ended Free Practice 3 inside the combined top ten. Marquez was especially impressive as he improved his time by eight tenths to end the morning in fourth with a 1'23.132 – only a tenth shy of his 2019 pole time.

A small fall early in Free Practice 3 did little to upset Marc Marquez's session, the eight-time World Champion immediately remounting and completing his run. With the hard work done in the morning, Marquez headed back out on track for Q2 to battle for grid position. A best lap of 1'23.227 saw him go two tenths faster than last week's qualifying session and secured fifth – equaling his best grid position of the year from Germany. Having already shown his speed off the line last weekend, Marquez will again be looking to put together a strong opening lap.

Pol Espargaro created another consistent day around the 4.3-kilometer-long track, improving his pace with each session. Ending Free Practice 4 in eighth, Espargaro's work on used tyres on Friday was beginning to bear fruit. Then in Q2, the #44 put together a 1'23.738 to join his teammate in going faster than the previous week and improving his starting position. The lap time will see Espargaro line up his Honda RC213V in 11th place, just ahead of Takaaki Nakagami. Espargaro felt he could have delivered more over one lap with a different front tyre choice in Qualifying, but is feeling more confident with the hard front for the race.

Both Repsol Honda Team riders are primed to attack when the lights go out at 14:00 Local Time tomorrow, Sunday August 15. Forecasts remain decidedly mixed for what the weather will do on Sunday, some calling for rain while other predicted the hot weather to continue.

Further information in the press release to download