Honda HRC team fastest in Suzuka qualifying

Q. How did today go?
A. Qualifying was good. We have two tyres to use across the two qualifying sessions, so it was good to push for one lap, then stop and control the situation. You always need a good strategy because there is often a red flag, so you need to calculate your moves very carefully. Going under 2’05 was important. The top opponents are fast as well, but tomorrow we will have another chance to further improve our potential. That said, qualifying or pole position is not the most important thing for Honda. We are very strong in consistency, and that is the main target for the race. But a top-three result tomorrow would be a good starting position for Takumi.

Q. Did you do any particular preparation for the Sunday race?
A. This morning I did a session like a Sunday race stint, to test myself a bit, especially because with just two riders we need to see how we manage the pace. The speed was pretty good, but I think the toughest part will be the heat, because the heart rate goes up a lot with this heat. Even if you don’t move much on the bike, the heart rate rises and you sweat a lot.

Q. How are you preparing for the race from a physical point of view?
A. Since last Wednesday, we have been training to cool down and recover very quickly, and we did it again today — cooling off quickly in the pool, eating, drinking, and changing leathers to stay dry. The rest time in reality is never a full hour, it will be just around forty minutes. It will be a challenge of course, but I think the experience from last year will help us handle this properly. On Monday night I will definitely sleep a lot!

Q. One extra challenge you expect for the race?
A. Perhaps a Safety Car situation. It would be a first for me, since I didn’t experience it last year, so it would be something new to manage.

Q. How did today go?
A. I evaluate my qualifying positively, especially because I did my second qualifying stint on the same tyre as in the first one, and even so, the lap time improved. Of course, my goal was to exploit the new tyres in the first session, but surprisingly the time didn’t come as expected. In the second one, I set my own pace, and the times improved. I don’t really understand why, but apparently, I set better laps when I don’t push too hard. And of course, Zarco managed to set a strong lap time.

Q. Could you also use today to improve the bike setup?
A. Yeah. Well, it’s not that easy to make progress, but at least we used both bikes and ran two qualifying sessions, and I could see that the bike felt a bit better. Now, there’s only the night session and a short free practice tomorrow left, so we don’t have much track time. The key will be to manage my physical strength properly and remain well hydrated — that’s the most important thing.

Q. When it comes to the bike setup, in which direction are you going this year? Do you and Zarco have different preferences?
A. This year, basically from the start, Zarco and I worked together in testing. The base setup changed since we switched to Öhlins, and we had to find a solid base. So we’ve developed it together. Some changes were made to accommodate my requests, but overall, I’d say we’ve been working on both preferences.

Q. What about the heat and the extreme weather conditions? How do you manage that?
A. I think it’s definitely hotter than last year. The air coming in under the helmet feels hot. I didn’t really notice that so much last year, but this year it’s tough for everyone. Breathing also feels harder, maybe because of the extreme heat and humidity. There’s no real way to control the heat. You can’t stop sweating — that’s impossible. So the only option is to carefully manage nutrition and hydration, taking things that can be quickly absorbed and replenishing as much as possible. In the end, it depends on the conditions on Sunday. We won’t really know until the race starts.

Anyway, let’s give our best in the Top 10 Trials tomorrow.