Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez put his Friday resurgence at the Indian MotoGP down to a completely level playing field as the Buddh International Circuit hosted the premier class for the first time.
Marquez was fourth fastest in afternoon practice to seal his place in Qualifying 2, with team-mate Joan Mir also bypassing Qualifying 1 for the first time this season as he ended Friday in 10th.
It was the Honda duo’s best performance of the year in opening practice, although Marquez sounded a note of caution.
The Spaniard, who continues to be linked with a move to Gresini Ducati in 2024 alongside his brother Alex following fresh speculation he has decided to quit Honda, was 0.139s behind the VR46 Ducati of pacesetter Marco Bezzecchi in FP1 and 0.335s adrift of Luca Marini (VR46 Ducati) in Practice 1.
“It’s because it’s a new circuit,” Marquez reasoned.
“When we arrive at a new track it’s true that I am able to quickly find the limit of the track.
“I’m riding with the same bike as Portimao, just some difference with the set-up. And Joan Mir has a super talent, is a world champion, and when we arrive at a new race track also the grip is low.
“From FP1 I was there and in FP2 we were able to stay there even if we lost a little bit of margin as the overall grip came up.
“But finally, we were able to get a spot in Q2, which is the target, but I think many riders will make a step tomorrow,” he added.
“The front three rows of the grid and the objective for tomorrow and then let’s see what happens in the Sprint.
“The heat here is different to other tracks but I don’t think it will be a big issue for tomorrow; for the long race on Sunday we will have to see.”
Marquez, though, felt his final position on Friday was not ‘real’ after several riders, including Red Bull KTM’s Brad Binder, had their lap times cancelled at the end of the afternoon session due to a yellow flag.
“It’s also true that I don’t think it’s our real position because there were many laps cancelled due to yellow flags,” said the 30-year-old.
“We were very lucky because we did our times together behind Bezzecchi but on the last lap many riders were going faster but had their laps cancelled.”
“I will do my 100 percent [but] I think we will come back to our realistic area.”
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