They were exactly the 09.45 minutesthat is, 45 minutes after the runway was opened circuit Marco Simoncellion the shore of Riminiin Mianowhen the Catalan champion Marc Márquez29, climbed into his Honda RC213V MotoGPthree months after having undergone surgery, for the fourth time, on his arm, humerus and right shoulder, in the mayo clinicfrom Rochester, Minnesotta (USA), by the Spanish doctor Joaquin Sanchez Sotelo. Before, yes, they had ridden the Aprilias and even the already retired Andrea Dovizioso, who did a test of the new Alpinestars firm helmet.
Márquez’s day had started very early with activation exercises, always accompanied by his assistant Jose Luis Martinezwho does not separate from him, and, around 09:15 a.m., he got into his truck, installed just behind the Honda garage, next to that of Pol Espargaro, at the Misano circuit. went up for a moment Santi Hernandezhis engineer, also for a little while Alberto PuigTeam Manager of the winged team, and then Márquez dressed to go out on the track.
Around 9:30 a.m. there was already a cloud of photographers and TV and video cameras watching, in front of the box of the Team Repsol Honda, still closed, waiting for the pilot from Cervera (Lleida) to make his appearance, which he did around 09:40. Immediately afterwards, without greeting his own, since he has been in Misano since Friday night, he sat in his seat and spoke little, very little, with Hernández. He immediately put on his helmet, after reviewing some papers for half a minute and went out on the track, I insist, in the midst of great media expectation. Media and technique. And competitive.
The importance of this test is demonstrated by the fact that it is attended by the highest technical manager of the Honda factory, from HRC (Honda Racing Corporation), Shinya Wakabayashi, who hardly moves from Japan and more after the appearance of Covid-19. Well, Wakabayashi does not miss a detail of Márquez’s boxing exits and entries and his conversations with his technicians, which he attends together with Alberto Puig.
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Márquez stopped in his box after doing six laps of the Misano circuit, about 21 kilometers, he returned to his team’s workshop and shared conversations, sensations and analysis of the situation with his engineer and, especially, with his telemetrics, among the who is, on this occasion, the man who helped him win his Moto2 world title, Gerold Bucherwho is usually the technician of the German Stefan Bradl, a Honda test rider, but who has come to Misano to reinforce the Honda technical team in these two days of testing.
A few minutes later, MM93 went back out on the track, where he ran into his former Honda teammate a couple of times, Daniel Pedrosawho is testing the future KTM of 2023, as well as with the rest of the riders on the MotoGP grid, of course the leader of the World Championship and world champion, the Frenchman Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha)and his two pursuers, the Italian ‘Pecco’ Bagnaia (Ducati) and the Catalan Aleix EspargaroApriliawhich, at the close of this information, was leading the time table, something of little importance in two days where the only thing that is proposed is to test material for the final sprint of the current championship (there are six races remaining) and the preparation next year’s bike.