After ending FP3 in ninth place, MotoGP Championship leader Marc Marquez found a good pace in FP4, securing the top spot on the leaderboard.
He also once again demonstrated his unbelievable bike control, saving a front-end slide in turn one that even the commentators couldn't believe he managed to save.
However, he wasn't as lucky in qualifying, crashing at turn 15 during his first flying lap, on which he had been setting the fastest lap as he entered the third sector.
He immediately returned to the garage, mounted his second bike, and recorded what at the moment was the third fastest time.
He improved again on his last run, but not enough, and had to settle for the seventh spot on the grid despite having the pace and speed to run at the front.
โWe're not at our best at the moment, but I think our race pace is better then our qualifying position,โ he said afterwards. โThis morning we made a small mistake with the setup and lost the direction a little bit. Then we sorted things out and I felt really good on the bike again in FP4, but in qualifying I crashed on my first run, which completely changed our plans.โ
โI had to take my second bike but I didn't feel perfect on it, so I did a lap that was good but not good enough. Anyway, we're not happy with today but not completely disappointed either, as our pace isn't bad. โ
โWe'll try and have a good race. It won't be easy because here, every time you go on track the feeling is different, depending on temperature, if it rains or not, and so on, so we'll see what it's like tomorrow and do our best, like always.โ
