A GOOD DAY OF HARD WORK FOR APRILIA AT MUGELLO
ESPARGARÓ OFF TO A GOOD START, LOWES GAINS POSITIONS
The first day of practice at Mugello for the upcoming GP on Sunday returned encouraging indicators for both Aleix Espargaró and Sam Lowes. Although both were hindered by a crash in FP2, the riders still managed to improve on their times from the morning session astride their Aprilia RS-GP machines, significantly narrowing the gap behind the ranking leaders.
Aleix Espargaró crashed in the early stages of FP2 right when he was lapping in the top end of the standings. Forced to switch bikes, he then finished with a good 1’48.129 (16th best time) just over seven tenths behind the top time. Lowes’ crash, also in FP2, forced the Brit to end his session after turning only five laps, but that did not keep him from improving on his morning session by almost a second, finishing in twentieth place with 1’48.842.
The two sessions, which ended without either of them having actually attempted a true time attack, left positive sensations for the Aprilia Racing Team Gresini riders and a good technical base on which to build an assault for better positions in the qualifying sessions tomorrow.
ALEIX ESPARGARO’
“We did a lot better than the times show. Unfortunately, I crashed with the first bike which is the one with a better performing engine and here you can really feel the difference. It was a low speed crash, nothing serious, but it made the rest of the session difficult. In any case, I was able to establish a good pace in the final laps, managing to keep up with Viñales. Staying on the championship leader’s pipes here at Mugello is definitely a good sign. We still need to improve, but tomorrow we will have plenty of time to do so.”
SAM LOWES
“To be honest, I felt the best I ever have astride the RS-GP today. This morning went well. Because of a small problem on the first bike, I did the entire session with the second one and I was rather fast even using the same tyres. In the afternoon, we started with the hard tyres (not the best choice for a flying lap), but we were competitive in terms of pace. The crash cost us a bit of time, making all of our work more complicated, but overall I am optimistic for tomorrow.”
