Marc Marquez Back In The Saddle
M
arc Marquez made his
return to the saddle of a
MotoGP motorcycle on Tuesday,
September 6, when he complet-
ed 39 laps of the Misano World
Circuit Marco Simoncelli aboard
his Repsol Honda.
The eight-time World Cham-
pion finished the day 1.1 sec-
onds off the fastest time, set by
Misano MotoGP race winner
Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati), and
decided to sit out for the after-
noon session to be fit for another
ride the following day.
"After 100 days away, wow—
these bikes are fast! It's the
same as when you arrive at the
first test after winter, it takes you
some time to adjust," Marquez
said. "It was really good to be
back, to ride this bike again and
to be with my team. Step by step
I felt faster and more comfort-
able, but I need to work more to
gain the strength for longer runs.
I was able to try some items for
Honda after a few runs because
I was feeling good. Honda is
working a lot, it's clear. Our tar-
get today wasn't times, it was to
do 40 laps and understand our
situation. We decided to stop
early to try and ride tomorrow.
Tonight, I will do a lot of work
with physio, ice and stretching
to help with the recovery of the
arm."
Bagnaia topped the
timesheets with a 1:31.292,
finishing 0.18 seconds clear of
Luca Marini (Ducati) and Aprilia's
Aleix Espargaro, 0.239-seconds
off the pace.
CN
IN
THE
WIND
P48
He may have been off for
100 days, but Marquez was
right down to business on
his return to the RCV.
