GOOD QUALIFIERS FOR ALEIX AND THE THIRD ROW FOR TOMORROW’S START
ALEIX: “PERFECT RS-GP, SOME MISTAKES ON THE FLYING LAP”
It wasn’t a perfect lap, as Aleix admitted at the end of Q2, but there is still optimism in the Aprilia camp. Especially because of the pace demonstrated during the practice sessions, particularly FP4, with used tyres and in race setup.
All the sessions today were held in dry track conditions, with decidedly summer temperatures. The FP3 session had an even hotter finale, with all the riders working on the decisive time attack to go straight through to the second qualifying session. Aleix defended his position well, riding his Aprilia to fifth place at a gap of less than three tenths of a second. In the aforementioned FP4 session, the Spanish rider did a long run with good times and, more importantly, with great consistency.
In qualifying, Aleix basically repeated his performance in the Q2 session seven days ago while everything seemed to indicate a substantial improvement. However, only a few imperfections on the final lap kept him from snagging a spot on the second row. His eighth place on the starting grid does not fully satisfy the Aprilia rider, who will be counting on his good pace to make up some ground.
ALEIX ESPARGARO’
“I am truly very happy with the way we worked this weekend. Based on the data collected yesterday, the guys at Aprilia made some more changes to the RS-GP’s setup and I must admit that today I had a bike that was practically perfect. The second row was possible, but on my good lap, I unfortunately made some mistakes and that will complicate our race a bit. We know that we have some difficulties overtaking – that’s our Achilles’ heel – but I’m confident that after the mid-race point when grip drops, we’ll be able to play our hand.”
