Marquez says he "couldn't test anything" after troubled day

The Honda rider managed 33 laps on his way to the 10th quickest time of the day, Marquez having to spend long periods of time in the garage as the team worked on issues with the bike.

Marquez, who finished over a second off the pace set by Andrea Iannone on the Suzuki, conceded the day had been far from productive.

"We had several problems. We basically couldn't test anything, very few things," said Marquez. "It was hard on track. It was difficult to find the right moment. We went out late like everybody else.

"I had a problem that kept me in the garage a lot of time, then I went out with the other bike and I had another problem and we spent yet more time in the garage so that stops us from doing many things we had to do.

"In the end, when I was pushing with new tyres I had another problem with the electronics.

"It's better to have that now than during the season. We are here to work and to improve and when these things happen you need patience and little by little I'm sure it will be better," the Spanish rider added.

Marquez, whose team is using a new engine this year, admitted he did not expect to have such a troubled start.

He said, however, that he was encouraged by the bike's competitiveness.

"In terms of pace we are not so bad, so that gives me confidence," he said. "We didn't expect to have so many problems, but we expected to have work as it's a new engine and you need to re-adjust everything."

Additional reporting by Oriol Puigdemont