“I’m very, very happy, we did a lot of laps and we improved in some areas,” says Marquez. “Today I didn’t push for a timeattack, I did a long run. I was very, very happy with the long run. It was consistent and physically I felt well.” There was a small crash for the reigning Champion – at 50km/h, with customary, attempted save – but he shrugged it off. “After more than 200 laps, concentration isn’t the same, I was trying a new front fork and I lost the front but it was just 50km/h!”