Mark Marquez may have finished second in Hungary Motog’s Friday practice timesheet with Pedro Acosta, but the Ducati Renovo rider was once again the guy who beats the pace of the race.
He didn’t know that at the time, but Marquez’s 1M 37.753, set on an old 17-lap medium tire, was fast enough to charge 10th place and direct access to Qualifying 2 without having to fit fresh tires.
Eventually, Marquez finished nearly 0.006 seconds behind Pedro Acosta with his new tires.
Previously, the factory KTM rider was Marquez’s closest opponent with used rubber, recording 1M 38.012 on old 15-lap tires.
However, unlike Marquez, Acosta used a soft rear.
Mark Marquez finds “other bikes” can be done at Balaton Park
The current question is whether Marquez can go even faster with softer used tires in the final practice on Saturday, or whether Acosta can reversely switch to the older medium to fill the gap.
“The pace is good and, as usual, the used tires feel better than fresh ones,” Marquez confirmed.
“This is a very different track and we are going to try and make further progress tomorrow as other bikes can turn the corner very firmly, which is very important.
“Anyway, I’m happy with how we get there today, and we’re now aiming for the first two rows of spots, which is important given how difficult it is to overtake this truck.”
Mark Marquez has nominated the “easy” aspect of Balaton Park
Marquez, who is about to extend his 12-race streak in Saturday’s sprint, was one of the few in her previous Balaton Park Mileage after testing the Panigal V4 during the summer holidays.
The eight-time world champions have confirmed that consistency is difficult. Lap times vary during each run, with cancellations exceeding the track limit.
“It’s a very difficult racetrack to find a particular way and not exaggerate,” he told TNT Sport. “I gradually fell into rhythm.
“This is one of the more difficult circuits to understand how to get faster. But it’s one of the easiest circuits to reach its limits. I think tomorrow will be very tight.
“The focus is trying soft rear tires and understanding the distance in the race. I believe that we can improve at a few points, so we need to try something in the setup.”
Saturday’s qualifying is expected to be one of the most enthusiastic contests of the season.
“It’s a very small circuit that’s hard to make a difference,” he said. “Compared to others, the lap times are very tight.”
Ducati teammate Francesco Bagnaia was just 14th fastest.