An encouraging start for Pedrosa and Marquez at Sachsenring

Repsol Honda Team finished third and fifth quickest in opening practice for the eni Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland. With Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo now out of action, the Honda riders have been presented with an even greater opportunity for victory on Sunday.

Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda Team

Photo by: Repsol Media

"Today we focused on tyres to find out what the ideal choice will be for Sunday's race," Pedrosa explained. "Lately we have had some problems with the compounds being a little harder than normal. I had time to test all the options and in general things went well.

However, tomorrow we have to find a slightly better setup for cornering. As for Jorge, let's see how his condition is before commenting - we still don't know details. At the moment it doesn't look good for him, so I wish him well."

Marquez is no stranger to the Sachsenring either, having won his last three races at the circuit (one in the 125 class and a further pair in Moto2™).

"The day has been very positive and I'm very happy with how practice has gone so far, as I have been slowly improving," the 20-year-old began. "From the start I felt very comfortable - with it being a smaller circuit, the speed isn't so different compared to when you're riding a Moto2 bike.

Of course, you reach your braking markers quicker and you have to use new references, but it isn't that different to other circuits. This helps me to adapt a little more quickly.

"We have been working hard, but there are still some places on the track where I have to improve, be more consistent and find a good setup. Tomorrow we will try to continue in the same way, just as focused. I am sorry to see Jorge suffer another big crash; we wait to hear news and I send him my best wishes."

Heading into this weekend’s eighth round of the World Championship, Pedrosa leads the championship from Lorenzo by nine points, with Marquez third and 23 behind.

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