Pedrosa: productive laps at wet Jerez, Marquez: the importance of smoothness

Despite the intermittent rain showers that hit Jerez on the first day of MotoGP testing, both Dani Pedrosa and Marc Marquez were not that disappointed about the conditions as many would have believed, taking advantage of the rain to get in some precious wet weather testing.
Pedrosa finished second fastest and he said, “Today was the first day of testing here in Jerez and we were able to try various things in the wet.

We had some very productive laps, as the asphalt was very wet.
Sometimes there isn’t enough water on the track and the conditions aren’t adequate.
The feeling with the bike is very positive, because after so many days riding in the dry it was good to go out in the wet.
Let’s see if in the coming days we have more luck and can ride more in the dry, in order to try out the last few things before the season starts.

”Marquez was even happier about the wet track as he’s only had four laps in the wet so far this pre-season and basically needed to understand how to adapt his riding style to different track conditions and manage tire life, which seems to be a problem for many riders at Jerez due to the abrasive track surface when the conditions are damp and limited number of wet tires that the riders have at their disposal.

“Today was a very important day for us, because we tried out the bike in the wet,” commented Marquez.
“In Malaysia we only did four laps in the wet and it wasn’t as wet as it was here.
We’ve made steady improvement in these conditions.
I was very rigid on the bike at the start, but improved and realised it is very important to be smooth.
Also, I notice wet tyres wear quite quickly at this track.
This is something I have to learn how to manage, because they can catch you out.
I also learnt that traction control in the wet is much more important than in the dry.
We still have a lot to improve.
We have a good fast lap, but need to improve on used tyres and on our own consistency.
”