Eighth place start in Japan for Alex Marquez

Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS rider Alex Márquez will launch his challenge for a second successive podium finish in 2016 from the middle of the third row of the grid in eighth in tomorrow’s 23-lap encounter.

The Spanish rider was boosted by an impressive ride into the top six in this morning’s final practice session, despite a slow speed tumble when he lost the front-end of his Kalex machine at turn five.

Márquez was able to set a fast and consistent rhythm in qualifying and a best lap of 1’50.563 was just a fraction over two-tenths-of-a-second away from claiming a third front row start in the last five rounds.

Álex Márquez: 8th – 1’50.563
“I am happy with my performance so far this weekend because this was a track I struggled a lot on last season. We have made a big step in improving my feeling on the bike and that has been reflected in my performance in every session. I have been fast and consistent but we need to work a little bit on the rhythm in the Warm-up tomorrow morning. I need to make a good launch off the line and be aggressive in the early part of the race to make sure I don’t lose contact with the leading group. The most important thing is to finish the race and score decent points on a track that has not been easy for me in Moto2.”

Source: Marc VDS Racing