MOTOGP, QUALIFYING DAY IN BARCELONA
SIXTH AND SEVENTH ROW FOR THE APRILIA BIKES
In the GP of Catalunya, the seventh round of the MotoGP World Championship, Aleix Espargaró will start Tomorrow from the sixth row of the grid. His teammate, Scott Redding, will be right behind him on the seventh row.
In the final free practice session, Aleix attempted an assault on the top ten which would have put him straight through to Q2 and guaranteed a spot on one of the first four rows, but he stopped short just a half a second from tenth place. In the first qualifying session, hindered by problems with grip, he finished sixth for a combined sixteenth place at 1’40.010.
Scott Redding improved from his morning times and finished with a 1’40.3 that earned him a spot on the seventh row.
ALEIX ESPARGARO’“It was a demanding Saturday and our performance is not what we had expected it to be. I am struggling with grip, both at the front and at the rear, and especially on the front I did not find a compound that entirely convinces me. With the soft, I’m able to be fast for a few laps, but then the drop is evident and with the medium I have no feeling at all. The track is very slippery for everyone, but the others are able to manage the problem and take a step forward in performance with the new tyre. I am very consistent with the used tyre and that will be important in the race, whereas in the early laps, we don’t make the difference. We need to find a better balance for the RS-GP. It is not a huge problem, but a series of details that need to be sorted.”
SCOTT REDDING“To be honest, this was one of my best days. Like yesterday, we did not make any big changes, but I focused on my riding style and finding the right pace. Especially in qualifying, I was able to be rather fast, considering the fact that in the other sessions I worked primarily to find the right tyre combination for the race, doing longer runs. I am fairly certain that I’ll use the hard on the rear, whereas for the front we’ll decide tomorrow based on the temperatures. It will be a delicate decision, but looking at the data here in Barcelona, I struggle less than the others from this point of view.”
