ESPARGARÓ RETURNS FROM HIS INJURY WITH A FEW UNEXPECTED DIFFICULTIES
The scorching asphalt of Brno in the Czech Republic hosts the return of the MotoGP riders. For Aleix Espargaró, these were the first two sessions after the injury he suffered on the Sachsenring, a condition that made itself felt. In fact, the Spanish Aprilia Racing Team Gresini rider suffered from back and rib pain, not enough to keep him from riding, but certainly penalising. From a technical point of view, Aleix complained of difficulties maintaining speed going through turns. This problem was mitigated by the changes made between the two sessions, as demonstrated by the 1.2-second improvement.
Scott Redding did not find the right feeling on the Czech asphalt straight away either, in any case improving between the two sessions, but with more room for growth to explore in the qualifiers and the race.
ALEIX ESPARGARO’
“I am well and it is always a pleasure to get back on the bike, but today I was in more pain than I expected to be. This past week, I trained on the bicycle without problems, but astride a MotoGP bike, the situation changes. In the direction changes, every time I move I have back and rib pain. Brno is one of the most demanding circuits from a physical point of view and I am suffering, but I will try to tackle this like a normal race weekend, managing the situation and taking painkillers especially for the race. My physical conditions aside, today I did not feel very much at ease on the bike. We continue to be hampered by understeering. When I release the brakes, the bike struggles to turn and that keeps me from maintaining good speed through the corners, which is fundamental here in Brno with all of these long sweepers. In any case, I am confident that as early as tomorrow we will be able to improve and be more competitive.”
SCOTT REDDING
“This morning, both Aleix and I struggled quite a bit with the bike. In the afternoon, with the hard tyre on the front and back, I felt better straight away. Toward the end, something must have happened, because I completely lost the feeling with the front end. As far as settings are concerned, the changes were not drastic enough to completely change the way the bike handled, so we need to check the data. On the up side, I did my best starting test of the season, so that is a small satisfaction on a day that was quite honestly rather complicated.”
