motogp.com · Márquez completes triple as COTA test ends
The third and final day of on-track action was the calmest of the week, not least as both Yamaha Factory Racing and GPTech's Michael Barnes had elected to end their programmes on Wednesday. There were no significant changes weather-wise, with a blue sky and light breeze accompanying ambient temperatures ranging from the mid to high 20s.
Staying on-track right until the end of the day and then requesting more time, Márquez racked up a mammoth 60 laps - just three off the equivalent of three full race distances - and reduced his best effort from 24 hours earlier by over half a second, to 2'03.281. Electing not to complete a race simulation, the 20-year-old focused solely on bike setup and was pleased with his overall progress before personally thanking his team.
Some six tenths slower than his teammate, Pedrosa spent much of the test fine-tuning gearbox settings. Today, the elder of the two Spaniards was forced to end his running early due to a sore neck; the specific cause of the pain is yet to be identified.
Bradl's LCR Honda MotoGP machine was a further three and a half tenths in arrears, with the German admitting to motogp.com that improvements are needed under braking - an area the 2011 Moto2â„¢ title winner described as a usual personal strong point. For this reason, he struggled to achieve consistent sector times and will be looking to improve on this in April.
Blake Young was the sole remaining CRT runner, managing 42 tours on his Attack Performance, in-house-constructed APR-Kawasaki. For the record, his personal best run of 2'12.186 was just under nine seconds off Márquez's leading effort.
In the paddock, Bridgestone continued to evaluate proceedings as it looked to choose which tyre compounds will be used for the second race of the season in Austin next month. With much data having been collected, this will now be sent back to the company's headquarters in Japan before a decision is announced during the Official MotoGPâ„¢ Pre-Season Test at Jerez, running for three days from Saturday of next week.
Circuit of the Americas - Private test - Day 3 results:
1. Marc Márquez - Repsol Honda Team - 60 laps - 2'03.281
2. Dani Pedrosa - Repsol Honda Team - 24 laps - 2'03.898
3. Stefan Bradl - LCR Honda MotoGP - 43 laps - 2'04.225
4. Blake Young - Attack Performance - 42 laps - 2'12.186 (CRT class)
