After all the talk and controversy surrounding the leading protagonists in the MotoGP World Championship in recent days, it was back to business today as the GP de la Comunidad Valenciana got underway in perfect conditions at the Ricardo Tormo circuit.
Marc Márquez did his talking on the track with the fastest time in the opening session, whilst Valentino Rossi showed that he remains focused with some fast lap times despite confirmation yesterday that he will start Sunday’s race from the back of the grid.
However, the headlines today went to Jorge Lorenzo, who pulled out 0.139 seconds over Márquez at the end of the second session, to finish the day on top.
Eugene Laverty made a strong start this morning, quickly lapping inside the times he set in winter testing last year, although he suffered grip issues in the afternoon and dropped back to 22nd.
22nd Eugene Laverty 1.33.097 (42 laps):
“Today was tough. The first session was okay, I immediately went half a second faster than I managed when we tested the bike for the first time here. That was positive but then in the afternoon the asphalt felt more slippery and that made my problems worse. We need to find a solution to our rear grip problems because we are having issues here that I haven’t had with this bike before. It is lacking grip even off the gas, so it’s sliding in corner entry and then continues to slide on the gas. It’s the first time I have ever had this feeling so we need to improve this tomorrow. We have to discuss the best way because it is a very peculiar problem.”
Source: Aspar Media