A PROBLEM HINDERS ALEIX ESPARGARÓ IN QUALIFYING
The day of practice had begun on the right foot for Aleix Espargaró, fast in FP3 at Brno, so much to miss going straight through to the second qualifying session by less than a tenth of a second. The Spanish rider improved his feeling, finding better sensations than yesterday and he was also comforted by improving physical fitness. Only a technical problem, currently being assessed by the Aprilia techs, hindered Aleix during Q1, just as he was turning his best lap of the weekend. The disappointment in the number 41 garage is understandable as the race now promises to be a comeback ride for a points finish.
Scott Redding’s difficulties continue as he struggles to find a satisfactory tyre combination. The English rider will tackle the race striving to squeeze the most out of the technical package, always on the hunt for a points finish.
ALEIX ESPARGARO’
“Physically I feel better. Yesterday evening I was tired, but I was able to rest and this morning I felt like I had the right energy to be effective. In fact, in FP3 I was much faster straight away, doing a good 1’55.8 and missing out on going straight through to Q2 by just under a tenth. In any case, I was sure that I would be able to make it in Q1 and, in fact, on my second run I was doing a good lap with a red helmet in the first sector, but then the bike switched off and I was unable to continue. We still do not know what the problem was, and we are investigating it now. This means that tomorrow we’ll have to start from the back of the grid, but I will give it my best, as always, to try to recover as much as possible. This morning with the new engine we were competitive and not far behind the leaders, so we are still confident.”
SCOTT REDDING
“I knew some weekends would be more difficult than expected and Brno is one of them. I am in a complicated situation with tyre choice. If I use the medium on the front, I’m unable to be fast, whereas when I put the hard on the front and the soft on the rear, I risk crashing when I push. There are no macroscopic problems, but a series of small things that are keeping me from improving at the end of the day. I don’t want to make any drastic changes for tomorrow. It is what it is and we’ll need to get the most out of the package we have available. The race is usually my best session of the weekend, so I’ll give it my all and we’ll see what the result is.”
