Teams and riders are preparing for what promises to be an extremely heated GP of Andalusia, and not just because of the 42°C forecast for tomorrow in Jerez de la Frontera. With a situation where many riders have a very similar race pace, it will be the details that decide the final result when the chequered flag is waved.
From this point of view, Aleix Espargaró’s optimism has increased after today’s sessions. In FP3 this morning, he pushed his RS-GP to the limit, an effort confirmed by his two crashes (without consequences). His determination went unrewarded and he missed going through to Q2 by just 17 thousandths, whereas in FP4, the Spanish rider did a good job preparing for the race.
In Q1, on the other hand, he was only a few tenths of a second behind the first four rows: Aleix finished sixteenth at 1’37.885.
Bradley Smith struggled, a bit slower and still looking for the setup combination that will give him the right feeling astride the new Aprilia RS-GP. The goal for tomorrow, both in terms of sensations and in terms of the gap behind the leaders, is to improve on last weekend’s result here on the same track, compared with last weekend’s.
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