The Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS rider set a fast pace in the difficult conditions with teammate Joan Mir ninth overall.

Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS riders Alex Marquez and Joan Mir endured a day of rain soaked track conditions at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit for the opening day of practice for the Valencia Grand Prix.

Alex Marquez began the day with a stellar wet weather performance with the second fastest time in FP1. Conditions in the afternoon FP2 session allowed no improvement in times on a wet and slippery track. Marquez was unhurt when he fell after losing the front at turn 10 with his best lap of 1’47.503 for second overall set in FP1.

Joan Mir was ninth in FP1 with the Moto2 rookie looking to gain experience in the full wet conditions with a lot of standing water on the 4 km circuit. While FP2 session did not go smoothly for Mir but he gained valuable track time to build his confidence in the extreme conditions. Mir’s FP1 time of 1’48.407 placed him ninth overall.

Tomorrow’s FP3 session is scheduled for 10:55am with qualifying at 3:05pm for round 19 of the Moto2 World Championship.

Alex Marquez: 2nd, 1’47.503, +0.798, 39 laps, 156 km

“I have a good feeling in the wet conditions”

“Overall a good day with the wet conditions in the morning a little tricky, it is always easy to make mistake in this track. We made some changes for FP2 which was step forward but I made a small mistake and crashed while trying to find the limit. Now it is important to understand this mistake and stay confident for the race, I have a good feeling in the wet so now we need to focus on keeping this feeling.”

Joan Mir: 9th, 1’48.407, +1.702, 39 laps, 156 km

“I need to do more laps in the completely wet conditions”

“Despite the wet conditions I felt quite good in FP1 but in the afternoon session I had a problem with the tyre but was able to improve in my second exit although it was not enough to be faster than my time in FP1. I need to do more laps in the completely wet conditions so we will wait to see for the weather tomorrow and work to make the best set-up for the race.