MOTOGP: Return to test settings cures Marquez woes

Honda simply reverted to its Qatar test settings to rectify the problems Marc Marquez endured in MotoGP practice on Thursday.

In the first session of the new season, Marquez finished eighth, 0.818 seconds off the pace set by Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo. He later revealed he was struggling with poor consistency from his Honda's electronics, including engine braking, following a change of settings before the event.

Marquez had no such problems on Friday, setting the second and third fastest times in the two practice sessions, after switching back to the settings he finished the pre-season with.

"We fixed it because we went back to exactly the same as we had in the test," he said. "Like I said yesterday, we changed a small thing and normally we'd expect it would not be a big difference on the bike.

"This time it was a big difference with these electronics. So we know for the future."

Honda started behind the eight-ball with MotoGP's new control electronics compared to Yamaha and Ducati, and had a mixed pre-season as it came to grips with the new package.

Marquez admitted that the manufacturer's inconsistency was not ideal ahead of Sunday's season-opening race.

"We are not 100 percent and we are not ready," he said. "We are still trying to fix some problems. Today it felt better.

"The important thing is that today I feel like the last day of the winter test here. We know why we had the problems and why I was slow [on Thursday]. Today we did a better step and in FP2 and FP3 we were more or less consistent in lap times."

Originally on Autosport.com