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november 09, 2020 - Honda Racing

Rain doesn’t dampen the Repsol Honda Team in Valencia

Stefan Bradl led the way for the Repsol Honda Team as he showed off incredible wet-weather skills aboard the RC213V, #alexmarquez close behind as the pair showed top-ten pace in Qualifying.

Heavy rains early in the day left the Ricardo Tormo Circuit sodden for Free Practice 3, riders able to gather more valuable wet time but missing a final chance to duke it out for Q2. Weather continued to play a major role in the European GP as a downpour just before FP4 ended any chance of a dry #Valencia Circuit on Saturday.

Without a chance to improve on his best time from Friday, #alexmarquez spent Free Practice 3 working on the wet-weather setup of his Honda RC213V and exploring options for Sunday's race should it remain wet. A 1'41.589 put the #MotoGP rookie seventh in the session, showing strong potential for Q1 later in the day. Improving by a further three tenths in the 15-minute shootout, Alex ended the session in fourth and less than half a second from a transfer spot. Alex will start Sunday's race from 14th.

The wet conditions didn't bother #stefanbradl who continued to call on his vast experience to regularly challenge for the top spots. 11th in FP3 and 9th in FP4, Bradl was full of confidence for Q1 and was immediately on the pace. Bradl's charge in Q1 was cut a lap short as the HRC Test Rider fell on his final lap at Turn 8 as he pushed to the limit for a place in the top two. Uninjured, the German will line up 13th on the grid tomorrow, his best Qualifying position since the 2016 Australian GP.

Takaaki Nakagami will line up on the front row of the grid in third after another strong Saturday as he chases his debut premier class podium.

Scheduled for 14:00 Local Time, the 27-lap European GP is building to be one of the closest races of the year with unpredictable weather and very limited dry running.

 Alex Marquez
14TH  1'41.276
"Today was a good chance to be in front in Qualifying but the conditions were not easy at all, it wasn't really wet only in two corners and the rest were drying. My time was better than I expected, and I would have been eighth in Q2. If it is dry tomorrow it will be tricky as we have had no time with the circuit fully dry and everyone needs to try and decide what tyre to use. We need to see what happens tomorrow because a lot can happen."

Stefan Bradl
13TH  1'41.010
"It was all or nothing today in Quali! I felt really good all day on the bike in the wet and the track was improving with each lap. We had to manage the tyres a bit in Q1 because they started to overheat when it stopped raining, so I put it all on the line for the final lap. I got to Turn 8 and I thought either I will crash, or I will be in Q2. Unfortunately, we crashed. I am OK and although we didn't make Q2 I am happy with how the day has gone because we have been feeling good and able to show our speed."

European GP Qualifying Classification

Pos. Rider                           NumNation                                        TeamTime/ Gap
1ESPARGARO Pol44SPARed Bull KTM Factory Racing1'40.434
2RINS Alex42SPATeam Suzuki Ecstar0.041
3NAKAGAMI Takaaki30JPNLCR Honda0.096
4ZARCO Johann5FRAEsponsorama Racing0.143
5MIR Joan36SPATeam Suzuki Ecstar0.270
6MILLER Jack43AUSPramac Racing0.459
7ESPARGARO Aleix41SPAAprilia #racing Team Gresini0.563
8OLIVEIRA Miguel88PORRed Bull KTM Tech 30.894
9MORBIDELLI Franco21ITAPetronas Yamaha SRT1.123
10BINDER Brad33RSARed Bull KTM Factory Racing1.347
11QUARTARARO Fabio20FRAPetronas Yamaha SRT1.509
12DOVIZIOSO Andrea4ITADucati Team1.815
13BRADL Stefan6GERRepsol Honda Team1'41.010 - Q1
14MARQUEZ Alex73SPARepsol Honda Team0.266
15VINALES Maverick12SPAMonster Energy Yamaha MotoGP0.300
16CRUTCHLOW Cal35GBRLCR Honda0.301
17BAGNAIA Francesco63ITAPramac Racing0.385
18ROSSI Valentino46ITAMonster Energy Yamaha MotoGP1.029
19PETRUCCI Danilo9ITADucati Team1.234
20SAVADORI Lorenzo32ITAAprilia #racing Team Gresini1.522
21RABAT Tito53SPAEsponsorama Racing2.020

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