A blustery day at the Sachsenring opened the weekend, Luca Marini putting his best foot forward to lead the Repsol Honda Team while Joan Mir looks to come back from an untimely fall.
In almost the blink of an eye the MotoGP World Championship was transported from Assen to the Sachsenring, and it was immediatley time to get out on track again. Conditions were cool as Free Practice 1 began in the morning, Luca Marini getting to work straight away to right the wrongs of the previous round. Ending the morning in 19th, the Italian would find over a second between sessions to conclude the day with a best lap of 1’20.868. 17th overall and just 0.2s from Zarco, the leading Honda, Marini is content with Friday’s progress but knows there is still much more to do.
On the other side of the Repsol Honda Team garage, Joan Mir endured a more trying day. Starting the day in 21st, he and his team made solid progress to improve his feeling with the Honda RC213V for the afternoon session but a fall at Turn 1 would scupper his chances of improvements. He finished in 22nd.
The work will continue overnight for both Repsol Honda Team riders to achieve their maximum. Forecasts remain mixed as to what conditions Saturday will present.