Luca Marini was the record holder of the Mandalika track, a 1’29″978 which he set last year, when he was riding the VR46 Ducati, taking pole position in the Indonesian MotoGP Grand Prix. To the big names in the World Championship he is Friday was enough to make him collapse, even if by just three tenths. The truly unexpected thing, however, is that with his 1’30″096″ the driver from the Marche also came really close, thus confirming his growth. of Honda, despite finishing 12th and missing direct access to Q2 by a handful of thousandths.
“Here the gaps are all very close, so if you manage to do a good lap you get into the really high positions. It’s a shame, because it was very close to getting into Q2. That would have been very nice, but it’s part of the our growth process and now we have to focus on trying to improve the bike a little more to achieve this”, said Marini at the end of the day.
When he was then asked if it depends on the special feeling he has with the track on the island of Lombok, he clarified that the credit is mainly due to the step that the RC213V has made with the latest aerodynamic update that was introduced in the test among the two races in Misano.
“No, because Zarco was also strong. Our package has improved a lot and now I too am able to exploit it more as a rider. The bike’s limit is much higher and it’s easier for me to get there. It was a Friday very positive for us, because the bike works very well even on a circuit completely different from Misano. As always, however, we suffered a lot with the rear grip”, he explained.
Luca Marini, Repsol Honda Team
Photo credit: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
“Aerodynamics is the thing that allowed us to make the biggest step, because now we have much more feeling when entering corners and the bike turns more. I think we are now very strong in this aspect. Not yet at the level of Ducati, but we’re not bad at all. We still need to improve when exiting corners, finding some grip at the rear, but this is Honda’s usual problem,” he added.
Trying to get into Q2 doesn’t seem like too much of a crazy idea, even if there will be no shortage of tough opponents: “Tomorrow morning it will be important to try to do a perfect lap to get into Q2, even if it won’t be easy because Alex Marquez is also in Q1 and Ducati always makes a great step on Saturday morning. Then there’s Brad Binder, who has made a lot of progress by now Q1, but in the end he always manages to get through.”
Finally, he focused on the dilemma that characterized almost all the riders on Friday: the choice of front tyre. “It won’t be easy at all. Maybe the hard one is better for the long race, but for the time attack I like the soft one better, even if maybe it’s a little too soft for us, so we have to adjust the setting a bit to exploit its full potential.”
“With the soft, the bike is easier to engage, while with the hard you have to force it a bit. But when braking there is much more support, especially going towards turn 16. So, between the heat and the possibility of staying behind other riders, the hard one should be better for the race”, he concluded.
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