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WITH GOOD QUALIFIERS ALEIX ESPARGARÓ SECURES A SPOT ON THE THIRD ROW

17 April 2021

It was a positive Saturday for Aleix Espargaró in the practice sessions at the Portuguese GP, the third round of the MotoGP World Championship which will take centre stage tomorrow on the spectacular Algarve circuit.

After earning direct access to the Q2 qualifying session, finishing the FP3 session authoritatively in the top ten, Aleix then battled as a protagonist in the decisive session astride his Aprilia RS-GP.

His final time of 1’39.169 confirms great and consistent improvement throughout the practice sessions and places him on the third row, with the seventh-best time, for the race start tomorrow. In standings marked by minimum gaps, Aleix’s performance took him just 48 thousandths from the second row and an amazing 178 thousandths behind the leader. This is a sign of the spectacular good balance of these early 2021 MotoGP races.

Lorenzo Savadori had to settle for the centre spot on the seventh row, since his time in Q1 that placed him a few spots higher was cancelled for exceeding the permitted area on his best lap – dura lex sed lex.

He also showed clear improvement in the subsequent sessions, finishing with a time of 1’40.444.

ALEIX ESPARGARO’
“After so many days lapping on the same circuit in Qatar, we wanted some feedback on the competitiveness of the new RS-GP here. I think the results demonstrate the big step forward Aprilia has made. The bike works well even on a track with extremely different characteristics. Actually, we aren’t entirely happy with our qualifying position, but with these gaps, the difference between the first and third row is truly minimal. In terms of pace, I’m also seeing a lot of riders at a similar level, myself included. I think the differences will come out in the final laps. Those who have saved their tyres will be able to battle for the podium.”

LORENZO SAVADORI
“The cancelled time in Q1 is a pity. It would have been my best performance and it would have given us a few positions. In any case, we are reducing the gap, both with our rivals and with Aleix, but we obviously still have a lot of work to do. The race tomorrow will be extremely demanding. Carefully analysing the data will be fundamental to be as ready as possible for it.”