ALEIX DOES WELL, IN THE TOP TEN STRAIGHT AWAY WITH A GOOD PACE FOR DISTANCE
ANDREA BATTLES WITH PAIN IN HIS SHOULDER AS HE PREPARES FOR THE RACE
THE THIRD RS-GP IS ALSO ON THE TRACK WITH SMITH AND THE APRILIA RACING TEST TEAM
Aleix had a good start to the weekend on the Aragón circuit which will culminate on Sunday in the fourteenth race of the MotoGP World Championship. The Spaniard took a precious spot in the top ten (tenth at 1’48.704) which could prove to be decisive for the qualifiers if the weather forecast of rain for Saturday holds true. However, Espargaró’s good sensations are not limited to his nice placement on the flying lap. In the sessions with a used tyre and a setup more suitable for the race, he lapped consistently in even better positions.
Andrea Iannone, receiving the all-clear yesterday at his medical check-up after his left shoulder injury a week ago in Misano, went out on track mainly to gauge his physical conditions. The initial response seems good. Andrea gritted his teeth and, in conditions which, in any case, are anything but easy, demonstrated a good pace. His day ended about a half a second outside the top ten, finishing fifteenth at 1’49.236.
Bradley Smith took the third Aprilia RS-GP machine out on track, working primarily on the development of new components, also in anticipation of 2020. In any case, he was able to find a good pace, and tomorrow he will try to focus his work and the Test Team’s work more on preparing for the race Sunday.
ALEIX ESPARGARO’
“A good day, especially in FP2, where I was able to go rather fast in race configuration. I may have expected to do better with the new tyre, but being in the provisional top ten is important since tomorrow should be a wet day. I think that on this circuit we have a shot at aiming for a good result, especially if we are able to stop the bike better and improve in acceleration.”
ANDREA IANNONE
“The pain in my shoulder bothered me a bit, but we are not in bad shape. In the afternoon, I was unable to take full advantage of the tyres on the flying lap. We will definitely need to improve something for tomorrow.”
BRADLEY SMITH
“Not bad. I was consistent, especially this morning when I put a lot of laps together with the soft tyre to simulate wear in the race. In FP2 we focused on testing some components and that penalised our lap times. But Aleix’s time and Andrea’s good pace confirm the potential of the RS-GP on this track. With a bit more conventional practice schedule tomorrow, I’ll try to get closer to them.”
