Marc Marquez third on opening day at Rio Hondo

Marc Marquez made a good start to the third round of the MotoGP season, the Grand Prix of Argentina.

The first two practice sessions were hindered by the low grip level of the asphalt at Termas de Rio Hondo, but Marquez would clock the third fastest time of the day –behind early pace setter Aleix Espargaro.

The first session began after a brief moment of uncertainty, caused by a fault with the track access light. The initial outing did little to clean the asphalt on a circuit used just once a year.

On the largely irrelevant timesheet, Marquez was tenth. In the second session the reigning World Champion improved his best time by more than three seconds, to finish third with a time of 1:39.336.

Tomorrow sees the second day of the Grand Prix weekend, with two free practice sessions and the all-important qualifying session to decide the grid for the Grand Prix of Argentina.

Marc Marquez
“I’m pretty happy today even if the track was not in the best condition. In the first session I was sliding around a lot, but in FP2 it was better. Things are gradually improving and we felt progressively more comfortable. I think the key to this weekend will be understanding the evolution of the grip level of the track, and adapting the setup to the changes. But the important thing is that we were able to go out and ride, and we are already at a good level.”

Source: Repsol Media