Moreira and Zarco secure Q2 places at Honda's home round
Mobility Resort MotegiDiogo Moreira and Johann Zarco both experienced positives in Friday's Practice session at Motegi, ending the day ninth and tenth respectively
From his first outing of the morning, Pro Honda LCR's Diogo Moreira felt comfortable on the bike and was able to enjoy positive feelings at Motegi, the location of Honda's home GP. In the afternoon the Brazilian continued to push and delivered a strong time attack, ending the day in ninth place and securing a place in Q2. Both rider and team are determined to make the most of the opportunity in tomorrow's Qualifying and Sprint, as they believe there is potential to fight for a strong result.
On the other side of the garage, Johann Zarco also enjoyed a good day, despite a crash in the final stages of the afternoon session. The Frenchman was uninjured and felt positive about his pace today. The Castrol Honda LCR rider set competitive lap times to end the day in tenth place and will join his team-mate in Q2 tomorrow.
Luca Marini endured a tougher than expected day in Motegi with a crash at the start of the afternoon session requiring a change of plan. Although unharmed, the fall meant the #10 was unable to use his preferred setup until the very final minutes of Practice. Eventually able to set a best time of 1’43.688, Marini ended the day in 17th and only 0.3s from the top ten. Work to do overnight to overcome Friday’s difficulties but with an unpredictable weather forecast, there are still plenty of opportunities come Qualifying and the Sprint.
Somkiat Chantra made the most of a short-notice call-up. Focusing on maximising his time on track, the Thai rider led Free Practice 1 early on and ultimately ended in 14th in FP1 before finishing the day in 19th, a strong start for a rider stepping onto the RC213V at short notice. Already able to improve his 2025 Q1 time by 0.3s, the winner of the 2023 Japanese Grand Prix in Moto2 impressed many within the Honda HRC Castrol team with his calm and measured approach.
I felt comfortable on the bike today, and the feeling improved lap by lap. We had good pace and were able to push during the time attack to secure a direct Q2 spot, which was important. We have a good base, so let’s see what tomorrow brings!
I felt comfortable on the bike today, and the feeling improved lap by lap. We had good pace and were able to push during the time attack to secure a direct Q2 spot, which was important. We have a good base, so let’s see what tomorrow brings!
The crash was quite strong, but luckily I’m fine. It’s just a bruise. I was a bit scared about losing the Q2 spot, but luckily I’m still in! We showed good potential today, which is very positive and important heading into the weekend. I feel we still have some margin to improve and fine-tune a few things. The field is very tight, but we’re in a good position and ready to fight for a strong result.
The crash was quite strong, but luckily I’m fine. It’s just a bruise. I was a bit scared about losing the Q2 spot, but luckily I’m still in! We showed good potential today, which is very positive and important heading into the weekend. I feel we still have some margin to improve and fine-tune a few things. The field is very tight, but we’re in a good position and ready to fight for a strong result.
A difficult first day, especially because of my mistake to crash at the start of the session in the afternoon because it compromised our entire day and also our Saturday now. When I put the tyres for the time attack, my feeling wasn’t as good as I had hoped because we had to work in a different way after that crash. Now it’s important to reset overnight and approach everything with a fresh outlook on Saturday because there is still time. We can see that the bike has some potential here with two riders in Q2, the objective is to join them. Thanks to all the fans here, already on Friday there was a lot of support from the Honda fans.
A difficult first day, especially because of my mistake to crash at the start of the session in the afternoon because it compromised our entire day and also our Saturday now. When I put the tyres for the time attack, my feeling wasn’t as good as I had hoped because we had to work in a different way after that crash. Now it’s important to reset overnight and approach everything with a fresh outlook on Saturday because there is still time. We can see that the bike has some potential here with two riders in Q2, the objective is to join them. Thanks to all the fans here, already on Friday there was a lot of support from the Honda fans.
This morning I remembered what MotoGP power is, it took some time to adapt so that’s why I just focused on riding as many laps as possible until the final moments of today. Step by step, I have to say a big thank you to the guys in the garage for helping me and preparing a really good bike – I was already able to be faster than last year even without riding MotoGP. I am enjoying a lot and I just want to keep improving and see what’s possible.
This morning I remembered what MotoGP power is, it took some time to adapt so that’s why I just focused on riding as many laps as possible until the final moments of today. Step by step, I have to say a big thank you to the guys in the garage for helping me and preparing a really good bike – I was already able to be faster than last year even without riding MotoGP. I am enjoying a lot and I just want to keep improving and see what’s possible.
