FIRST DAY OF TESTING FOR THE MOTOGP IN THAILAND
With 54°C on the asphalt during the afternoon session, the Thai circuit of Buriram is keeping faith with its geographical position, putting a strain on the resistance of the riders and the search for the optimal setup by the technicians.
The lack of grip is the main concern for Aleix Espargaró, seventeenth in the combined standings with about a second gap. The Michelin soft option at the rear, tested by the Catalan rider in the final of the FP2, seems to be a good choice from this point of view, although it remains to be checked the grip on the race distance.
Scott Redding scored a promising tenth time in the FP1, keeping the gap below the second and, most importantly, finding good feelings on the bike. Also due to a crash without consequences, Scott was among the few not to improve in the FP2 and will resume work on his RS-GP in tomorrow’s sessions.
ALEIX ESPARGARO’“Today I did a lot of laps with the medium tyre at the rear, but the grip is really very low. At the end of the second session I tried the soft tyre and the bike changed completely, similar to what happened at Aragon. Tomorrow the first objective will be to run more laps with this option, to check the possibility of using it in the race given the advantages in terms of grip. It promises to be a weekend to be managed carefully, both for the high temperatures and for the grip conditions”.
SCOTT REDDING“This morning things went pretty well, I’m happy to have started with a tenth time. I felt good on the bike and we managed to improve the setting used at Aragon a bit. I also had good feeling in the afternoon but we struggled a bit more with the lap times. Unfortunately after the crash I had to stop, I have two bikes in different configurations and I don’t want to create confusion. The conditions are quite demanding for the body, it will be important to manage the energy especially in view of the race”.
