There was no shortage of sunshine at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, temperatures steadily climbing throughout the day as Alex Marquez and Stefan Bradl began their preparations for Sunday.
The full Repsol Honda Team had their first taste of the recently re-surfaced Misano circuit as round seven of the 2020 MotoGP World Championship commenced. It proved to be a physically demanding day as the track temperature climbed to 43°C during Free Practice 2 for the premier class and bumps around the fast part of the circuit added yet more challenge.
With 15th position in Free Practice 1, Alex Marquez started his day on solid footing. In the afternoon Alex focused on his feeling for Sunday and the long 27-lap race, this meant the MotoGP rookie finished Friday down in 21st position. Working with his Repsol Honda Team, the reigning Moto2 World Champion is confident of improvements coming on Saturday as his ideal time was several tenths faster.
Stefan Bradl was able to take some benefit from testing in Misano as he started Free Practice 1 in and amongst the top runners. Improving his time from FP1 to FP2 by 0.7s moved the German to within 1.5 seconds of Quartararo’s fastest lap. Like many others, Bradl felt the affect of the bumps on the circuit as he worked on bike setup.
Both riders will return to the circuit tomorrow, Saturday September 12, for Free Practice 3 at 09:55 Local Time. The weather is once again expected to nudge 30°C ambient temperature.